Woman trapped inside a driverless Waymo car as two men 'harassed her'

A viral video of a San Francisco woman being subjected to alleged harassment by two men inside a Waymo self-driving car has prompted renewed concerns about the safety of passengers in autonomous vehicles.

A 28-year-old woman, who requested to go by Amina V., was riding in a Waymo self-driving car on Saturday when it was stopped at a red light.

Two men approached the vehicle, one blocking it from moving and the other joining in allegedly to harass her. Amina V. recorded the incident and posted the video on X.

The video of Amina's alleged harassment sent shockwaves on social media, highlighting autonomous vehicles' inability to avoid dangerous situations or people by driving away.

According to a report by KGO-TV, Waymo spokespersons advise riders to stay inside the vehicle if approached unless there's an urgent need to exit. This advice comes after a San Francisco couple reported feeling trapped in a Waymo vehicle when someone attempted to cover its sensors.

The men in Amina V.'s video blocked her Waymo vehicle in the middle of a busy intersection at Mission and Ninth Streets in San Francisco's South of Market. She shouted at them to leave her alone, but the men refused to go, stopping the car in its tracks.

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After the men eventually left, a message appeared on the car's screen stating, 'We will help you shortly.' Amina V. pressed the 'in car support' button, which prompted her with an option to request police assistance, but she declined. 

Julia Ilina, a spokesperson for Waymo, confirmed with SF Chronicle that the company contacted the rider to ensure her safety and well-being during the incident.

'In an instance like this, our riders have 24/7 access to Rider Support agents who will help them navigate the situation in real time and coordinate closely with law enforcement officers to provide further assistance as needed,' she told the outlet. 

Ilina also stressed how 'exceedingly rare' this kind of incident out of the 100,000 trips Waymo operates weekly in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. 

Amina V. said she was later contacted by Waymo and offered at least one free ride as compensation. Despite the unsettling experience, she still plans to use Waymo vehicles but acknowledged the challenges posed by unpredictable human interactions. 

'I was in a serious car accident as a child and have anxiety about driving because of it,' she explained. 'I've been looking forward to this technology for a long time.' 

Amina V. suggested that Waymo should avoid certain neighborhoods, such as the Tenderloin or parts of SoMa, which have been overrun with crime and homelessness in recent years.

She also expressed a preference for sitting in the driver's seat or the back seat, where the windows are tinted. During the incident, she had been seated in the front passenger seat.

This comes just after a girl's trip to San Francisco took a sinister turn when a group of men attacked the driverless car they were in.

A group of individuals jumped onto the hood of a Waymo autonomous vehicle, spray-painted it, and threw objects at the windows. 

Two women in the vehicle captured the attack on video and posted it to TikTok on Monday. 

The incident occurred when a mob surrounded the driverless car, causing the women to panic. The assailants smiled as they vandalized the vehicle and appeared to take photos of their actions with their phones.