RIDESHARE brands will put passengers in self-driving cars despite cries of protest from unhappy customers.
One passenger said Waymo's self-driving vehicles left him spinning in endless circles and warned Uber and Lyft riders to be wary of the new technology.
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Top ride-sharing brands announced they are training employees to operate Waymo products ahead of their launch in the coming months, according to The Hill.
Uber plans to launch driverless rides first in the booming tech hub of Austin, Texas, and then in some areas of Atlanta, Georgia.
They hope that eliminating the drivers of new technology will reduce high costs and bring in more business.
The move comes as a surprise as Waymo was investigated for causing accidents and was temporarily suspended in San Francisco, California, last year.
Despite this, the company has enjoyed a significant amount of momentum, having secured a whopping $5.6 billion in funding as of October 2024, Automotive Dive reported.
A Waymo customer spoke about his harrowing experience with the technology that was captured on camera.
Mike Jones ordered a self-driving car to the airport in Phoenix, Arizona, and was shocked when it drove aimlessly in circles due to a malfunction.
Video showed the “uncomfortable” ride that left John strapped into the back seat with no way to escape the winding ride, NewsNation reported.
An already stressful situation became worse when customer service was not helping.
“Apparently someone in the control tower realized there was a glitch and then they're trying to fix it, but what's interesting is that they're trying to use my phone to fix the problem,” he said.
Waymo told NewsNation that the flaw has since been fixed with a software update, but the company is still facing a barrage of other issues.
People who live near Waymo parking lots have reported seeing lines of stopped traffic caused by self-driving cars.
They wake up every morning to a symphony of trumpets.
Protesters also targeted taxis by placing traffic cones on top of the hood.
How do self-driving cars work?
Self-driving cars use sensors, algorithms, machine learning systems, and powerful processors.
They can create and maintain a map of their surrounding area based on several sensors located in different parts of the vehicle.
Radar sensors are used to track the locations of other cars.
Video cameras can detect traffic lights, read road signs, track other cars, and look for pedestrians.
A sophisticated program processes all this information, plots the path the car should take, and sends instructions to the car's actuators, which control acceleration, braking, and steering.
Encoded rules and object recognition help the program follow traffic rules and avoid obstacles.
Source: Synopsys
This action instantly jams Waymo's sensors, and the car suddenly stops in its tracks.
Despite the drama, automated cars have established themselves in areas like Los Angeles, where they have become a common sight in traffic.
The race to become the standard for Robo-taxis continues as Elon Musk's Tesla brand hopes to start producing its own taxis in 2026.
Meanwhile, the self-driving Cruise brand took a hit when GM's initial fundraiser suddenly dropped it.
Now, the American car brand Cruise is used for in-house production of partially automated systems.
Amazon's Zoox self-driving vehicles have begun testing in San Francisco.
