A pastor’s first Waymo ride left him stuck sideways across a road

Lou Pizzichillo (loupizzichillo) says his “First Waymo experience didn’t go as planned” after the car became stuck sideways in the middle of a road. The Atlanta, Georgia, pastor documented what appeared to be an obstacle-detection glitch in a video that has since gained over five million views across Instagram and TikTok.

Pizzichillo’s video started with the car driving to and then past him, as he noted, “Check out my ride.” After he got in, the car greeted him with an automated message, saying, “This experience may feel futuristic.” A few minutes later, the vehicle came to a halt as it tried to exit the parking lot, where a height beam featured a line of hanging chains. Pizzichillo noted that the car “was making a three-point turn,” and quipped, “I guess those chains were kind of scary.”

Midway through the turn, with parking structures on both sides of the two-lane road, the car stopped. Pizzichillo told his viewers, “We are sideways in the road. I do feel vulnerable.” With the Waymo’s in-car screen telling him, “Our team is working to get you moving,” he filmed other cars maneuvering around the Waymo.

Waymo’s remote support got stuck too

In the video, a Waymo customer service representative eventually spoke with him through the car’s system, apologizing for the predicament. They talked through their process as they tried to get the car moving so that the system could “detect that there is a way out of here.” That didn’t work, and the representative told Pizzichillo that he would bring in another specialist because the car was “not taking my suggestion.”

Pizzichillo’s experience sparked a wave of criticism from his viewers, with one person asking, “How is this legal? If anyone drove like that they would lose their license.” They further accused Waymo of using “people and the public roads for this experiment, putting everyone at risk.” Another user was shocked that the representative referred to the fix as a “suggestion” rather than an “override.” Some viewers said the video had put them off trying Waymo.

According to Skill Lync, self-driving cars typically rely on a combination of sensors like LIDAR, radar, cameras, and ultrasonic sensors to detect and avoid obstacles. AI and machine learning then classify those objects and plan a safe path. While these systems are designed to handle complex scenarios, the technology still faces hurdles, including unpredictable human behavior and environmental challenges that can affect sensor accuracy.

Unusual street setups have tripped up Waymos before, as when staff at a Denver farmers market had to usher a driverless Waymo out of the area. Alongside the concern for Pizzichillo, including one person who jokingly asked if he now lived in the car, came a wave of puns. Users joked about “Waymo issues,” and one person quipped, “I’d feel Waymo safe if they were off the road.”

Attack of the Fanboy was unable to independently verify Waymo’s side of the story, as this account originates solely from Pizzichillo’s Instagram and TikTok posts.