‘Scary’: Woman’s driverless taxi blocked by men demanding her number

A woman has filmed a ‘scary’ experience after two men stopped in front of her driverless taxi and demanded she give them her number.

A woman has filmed a “scary” experience after two men stopped in front of her driverless Waymo taxi and demanded she give them her number.

The 28-year-old San Francisco resident shared the viral video on X as a “warning to women” after her weekend trip late last month took a disturbing turn.

The clip shows two dishevelled-looking men blocking the path of her taxi, leering at her and refusing to step aside as they attempt to engage her in conversation through the windows.

“Get out of the way! Move!” she can be heard telling them. “Oh my God, get out of the way. I have to go, please stop. You’re holding up traffic!”

Writing on X, Amina said she loved Waymo “but this was scary”.

“Two men stopped in front of my car and demanded that I give my number,” she said.

“It left me stuck as the car was stalled in the street. Thankfully, it only lasted a few minutes … Ladies please be aware of this.”

Two men were seen blocking the woman’s driverless taxi. Picture: X

She added that before she started filming, “the first guy stood in front of the car about a minute”.

“Then he came around again and the second guy came with him,” she said.

“There was a random guy walking with a blow torch. I was afraid more men would crowd around which thankfully didn’t happen.”

But Amina praised the Waymo team, saying they were “great and called me with the in-car support”. “They also called me to follow up and all around good at solving this problem,” she said.

“I may still take them but will be careful taking it alone.”

The Google-owned self-driving car company apologised to her on X.

“Amina, we’re sorry this happened to you, and appreciate your positive feedback regarding Rider Support,” Waymo wrote.

“Please know your safety remains our top priority, and we hope you’ll consider riding with us again in the future.”

Amina praised Waymo’s in-car support service. Picture: X

Amina, who did not want her last name published, told The San Francisco Standard she was sitting in the passenger seat at around 10am on Saturday when the man in the red hoodie approached the car just after it stopped for a red light at Mission and Ninth streets in the city centre.

“He stood in front of it so that it would come to a complete stop,” she said. “I was a bit frightened when it first happened because I didn’t know what they were gonna do.”

Waymo told the publication incidents like these were “exceedingly rare among the 100,000 trips we serve a week” in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.

“Our riders have 24/7 access to Rider Support agents who will help them navigate the situation in real-time and co-ordinate closely with law enforcement officers to provide further assistance as needed,” a company spokesperson said.

Waymo operates driverless taxis in several US cities. Picture: Jason Henry/AFP

But it comes after a similar incident in February, when a couple were “trapped” in a Waymo taxi as it came under attack by a man who appeared to be homeless.

Robert Moreno told ABC San Francisco he and his husband were in the taxi at traffic lights when they noticed the man attempting to cover its sensors, which would have immobilised the vehicle.

“We felt trapped in the sense that we didn’t know what to do in that instance,” he said.

“We didn’t really have understanding. Do we get out? Was it safe to get out of the car? It was night-time, pouring rain … If we were outside walking we could’ve walked away, run away. If we were driving, we could make sure we locked the door. In this instance, we literally had no control.”

Waymo later emailed the couple telling them “when a pedestrian attacks the vehicle, we advise riders to remain inside the vehicle until one of our team members arrives or there’s an urgent need to exit”.

“Be assured that our team works closely with local law enforcement and government and have a team nearby to assist if need be,” it said.

In May, the National Highway Transportation Safety Agency (NHTSA) said it was investigating 31 incidents of Waymo’s robotaxis potentially violating traffic safety laws.

The NHTSA said several of the incidents, which date back to August 2021, “involved collisions with clearly visible objects that a competent driver would be expected to avoid”.

“Reports include collisions with stationary and semi-stationary objects such as gates and chains, collisions with parked vehicles, and instances in which the (automated driving system) appeared to disobey traffic safety control devices or rules,” the agency said.