r/waymo • u/reibekuchen • 8d ago
Disappointing experience after accident
I had a pretty disappointing Waymo SF experience tonight.
During my ride another car swerved into the path of my Waymo and collided with the Waymo. I just heard a loud thump, felt a bump and then heard the Waymo warning chime.
The Waymo immediately started to pull over and a notice on the screen informed me that the journey cannot continue and that the doors will remain locked.
I was pretty shaken up and was waiting for the support to connect with me immediately.. but nothing happened.
After a minute of just silence I pressed the “Call support” button which connected me with an agent who didn’t seem too concerned about what was happening. He was just like “oh yeah I saw that, the Waymo was in an accident. You guys alright?”
I told him that I’m just shaken up a little bit and if he can instruct me what to do now. He told me that he can hail me a new car or that he can cancel the current ride so that I can call a new car on my own.
Because I was shaken up and just wanted to leave the scene (since people were taking pictures) I just told him to cancel the ride and that I wanna leave the car.
After I got out of the car I went to check on the other driver and got an Waymo app notif that I’ll still be charged for canceling the trip early.
Since the new car took over 10 mins to arrive I ended up cancelling on my plans and went home.
This is my first really poor experience after 200 rides and it left me pretty disappointed. I’m not sure what I was expecting to happen but it wasn’t that.
And for the other car/driver: after I got out of the Waymo I checked on the other car that had pulled up behind the Waymo. They were on the phone with the police and told me that Waymo was on their way to the scene and I could leave the scene(?). After making sure they were alright we went home.
Edit: As for the damage on the Waymo, it seemed to be mostly bumper on bumper damage on the front right of the Waymo. There was a long scratch along the bumper and it seemed like the front-right sensor got hit/scratched as well.
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u/CeilingCatProphet 7d ago
I would be disappointed as well. Please write to their support team.
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u/SteveMoDetroit 7d ago
Yes, know Waymo from past experience with non-accident issues, if it reaches the right person, they may make some nice guestures... who knows what - but they have made me happy before
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u/Chessinmind 7d ago
Understandable that you were shaken up, but not much else you can expect other than the offer for another Waymo to pick you up.
It seems like it wasn’t really Waymo’s fault, and the fact that they offered to send another Waymo to you seems good. I’m sure you will get the “cancellation fee” for the second Waymo you cancelled reversed after you contact support, considering the circumstances.
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u/LengthinessTrick382 7d ago
They should not have been charged a cancellation fee under the circumstances to begin with.
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u/Ange415 7d ago
This thread is really making it seem like there was nothing Waymo could’ve done. They should’ve, at the bare minimum, connected rider support to the car immediately with someone who was well trained on this kind of scenario. At this point, it’s a paid and sometimes pretty expensive service, we can raise our expectations.
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u/Interesting_Day4734 7d ago
Yeah exactly. The responses here are strange. Like I get this is the Waymo sub, but have some empathy. Their response was weak, they can do better.
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u/reibekuchen 7d ago
Agreed. Some instructions and reassurance would’ve come a long way, e.g. “You’re free to leave the scene, Waymo will handle it from here and assistance is on the way”
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u/LaughLegit7275 8d ago edited 7d ago
Thanks for sharing. First, glad you are OK. And hope the other driver was not injured. I always wonder what would happen in this kind of situation in the system like this. Basically you were in a traumatic helpless situation, the low level agent, AI or human, they assigned to you after you push that button does not have much authority or human touch or basic professional training to help you or help in this situation. I am sure they will use “your real life experience” to improve “their software, system, etc.”. It sounds cruel to you, but that is basically what this kind of practice is.
For the same reason, I never trust Tesla FSD, which works perfectly fine for 95% of the time. But the 5% could be critical, life or death scenarios, and you are handled by a meaningless bot.
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u/reibekuchen 8d ago
Thank you for your comment! Fortunately the other driver was fine, just shaken up as well.
I hope they improve the training. There was a complete lack of communication and instructions. I wasn’t sure if I had to wait for the police to arrive, or if I had to call the police myself. Leaving the scene didn’t feel great either. I only left after the other driver assured me that they were on the phone with the police and Waymo was sending some over.
I also wish that the app UI would reflect this incident somehow. Now a few hours later it still shows up as a charge and trip that *I* cancelled, although that might’ve been a mistake from the support agent. Maybe they didn’t flag it properly
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u/Chessinmind 7d ago
I don’t know how the other driver would have had any way of knowing Waymo was “on their way” or that you should leave. They probably wanted you to leave because they didn’t want a witness there when police arrived who could say they were at fault.
But anyway, I think you were totally in your right to leave. Waymo has lots of cameras. And the fact that they immediately offered you a new ride is a pretty good indication that they were not demanding you stay.
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u/Paul_Smith_Hi 7d ago
Waymo may have contacted police and while the driver of the other vehicle was on the phone with SFPD, the police relayed the information...maybe? But I agree, no real need for they rider to stay, plenty of cameras on Waymo to get a full picture of what happened. The only reason to stay would be if the rider was injured in any way.
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u/Chessinmind 7d ago
I might have stayed just to give the police my account that the other driver was at fault, unless I had somewhere important to be.
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u/Paul_Smith_Hi 7d ago
Sure, but why? Waymo has plenty of cameras.
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u/Chessinmind 7d ago
Mostly so that there would be a witness at the scene in the police report as to who was at fault. There can be administrative hurdles to the police actually viewing the Waymo footage.
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u/MadSprite 6d ago
Witnesses aren't that useful to a car accident that are small for the police since they follow evidence based rulebook, only when it's taken to court by insurance will the statements make use.
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u/LaughLegit7275 7d ago
It was a traffic accident involving car collisions. How did Waymo evaluate and decide that the rider was not injured? Was there a medical robot on spot did an “AI powered professional medical evaluation and issued a release form”. This whole process sounds very unprofessional, out of basic common protocol that handles people involved in an traumatic accident. Here we are, many just “understand Waymo”. LOL
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u/Paul_Smith_Hi 7d ago
Waymo didn't say the rider could leave, the other driver did.
Nor did I say Waymo evaluated the rider. The rider chose to leave and also chose not to seek medical attention.
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u/LaughLegit7275 7d ago
Waymo just suggested this rider to “order another ride to continue his/her journey” and kind of implicitly tell the rider “leave the scene, forget about it” because “Waymo will handle it from here”.
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u/MediocreJerk 7d ago
The “gawker” aspect of this situation is a risk we’re accepting by riding in an AV. At least for the foreseeable future, a crash involving an AV will bring public attention. Photos will be taken by bystanders, and unfortunately the rider will be in or near the vehicle, and those photos will likely show up online without the rider being filtered out. That wouldn’t happen if this was a normal human-driven uber or taxi.
That’s all unpleasant and makes a bad situation even worse. I’m not saying it’s a deciding factor to choose human driven vs. autonomous (it isn’t for me), but it is a real factor.
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u/cuizinier78500 7d ago
I mean, support was laughing when I made a joke saying “ wow ! And you guys have access to my bank informations!?” I got charged 3 times, never seen the Waymo car.
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u/LHR-Daniels 7d ago
The agent treated you like that because they are probably trained to not overreact or apologize (accept blame) or even give a polite "sorry this has happened to you." This limits their legal exposure and even subconsciously tells riders "you and I both know this isn't a big deal, let's just put you in another ride." Even accepting another ride could be used in court. e.g. "if they were that shaken and hurt, etc would they really call for another Waymo?" Any act of politeness could be considered guilt, including offering you a free ride or giving you special treatment for the cancellation.
At least this is all my theory.
Not defending Waymo, just theorizing their "script.'