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Arizona Woman Tries Waymo For The First Time. Then It Almost Costs Her Life

'This is Waymo scarier than I thought it would be.'

woman tries Waymo for the first time

Photo by: AdobeStock

JT Wilson

By: JT Wilson

Mar 14, at 2:00pm ET

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A Waymo robotaxi left its passengers screaming after attempting a harrowing left turn across a busy Phoenix road, inching into oncoming traffic and forcing multiple drivers to slam on their brakes. The rider who posted the video says she’s giving the experience a "0/10."

Jojojojojo (@jojojojojosie) posted the one-minute, two-second TikTok on Sunday. It has since alarmed more than 2.2 million viewers. The video, shot from the rear passenger seat of a Waymo Jaguar I-PACE, shows the autonomous vehicle’s steering wheel turning on its own as it attempts a left turn onto what appears to be a wide, six-lane road with no traffic light.

‘Oh, We Have To Turn Left? Oh God’

The passengers see the trouble coming in the video. "We have to turn left? Oh god," one passenger says as the Waymo begins creeping forward. From there, things go downhill fast.

"It’s inching out," another passenger says. "This is actually really scary. Oh my gosh, it’s like it’s inching slowly."

The vehicle edges into the near lane of oncoming traffic and comes to a complete stop, forcing several approaching motorists to brake. As the Waymo finally pushes across into the far lanes, the passengers’ reactions escalate from nervous commentary to full-blown screaming.

"It’s gonna go after this car. It’s not—it better not—because oh my god, oh my god," one passenger says as the vehicle lurches across.

In a caption on the video, Jojojojojo tagged Waymo directly, writing, "So this was not good 0/10," and adding the hashtags #waymo, #driverlesscar, and #autonomousvehicle.

The Left Turn

Unprotected left turns crossing oncoming traffic are, of course, one of the most difficult maneuvers for both human and autonomous drivers. According to Popular Science, these turns require the kind of real-time negotiation with other drivers that remains a major challenge for self-driving systems. Human drivers often rely on eye contact and subtle interpersonal cues from other motorists to judge when it’s safe to go.

For now, at least, autonomous vehicles can’t replicate that.

The road in the video appears to be a wide arterial with at least six lanes and without a traffic light at the intersection. Several commenters pointed out that the intersection itself may be poorly designed.

"That intersection seems too dangerous for a left turn anyway," wrote commenter Sandra.

Kaden Cetin asked, "Is a left there even a legal turn? Three lanes of traffic with no light?"

One commenter, tsukekia, suggested the road design was the real issue, posting, "How else are you supposed to make that turn? The road is incredibly wide. A left turn shouldn’t even be allowed here. Feels like the car should’ve turned right and then found a better place to turn left."

Waymo’s Response

Waymo apparently acknowledged the incident after the video went viral. In a comment posted to the video, Jojojojojo confirmed that the company reached out: "UPDATE: Waymo did reach out to me and gave me a refund."

An Autoblog report on the incident noted that Waymo’s support team told the rider, "This is not the type of experience that we’d like to provide to our riders, and we are looking into the matter."

This is not the first time Waymo has drawn scrutiny in the Phoenix area. In December 2025, NPR reported that the company issued a software recall after its vehicles were caught passing stopped school buses. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has also investigated 22 incidents involving Waymo’s driverless vehicles, 17 of which were crashes.

However, Waymo points to its own safety data. A study published in Nature comparing 7.1 million miles of Waymo rider-only driving to human benchmarks found that injury-causing crashes occurred 80 percent less often in Waymo vehicles.

‘This Gonna Cause Waymo Accidents’

The comments section filled up with alarmed viewers and an avalanche of Waymo puns. Commenter Menace set the tone, writing, "This gonna cause waymo accidents."

That proved pun-tagious. "Waymo needs waymo patience," wrote Ashley. "This is waymo scarier than I thought it would be," added Femmefatal_28. Terri k offered the most concise review: "Waymo? More like Hellno."

Some commenters questioned why the service is still permitted to operate. "I genuinely cannot understand how these aren’t banned," wrote LaterBae. Stacey added, "This is crazy. Thankfully those people were paying attention. They are literally putting people’s lives at risk."

Others commented with an awareness of their own limitations. Reggie admitted, "Honestly better than me. I hate intersections like that."

AngelaRae1107 suggested a fix, writing, "I think they should be taught to only turn right on six-lane roads and do a U-turn at the next light. I’ve seen them stuck trying to turn left forever."

Commenter Rebecca Becky wanted people to go easy on the robot, writing, "I think everyone screaming and freaking out is making the driver nervous."

‘Emotional damage’

While Jojojojojo confirmed she received a refund, many commenters felt that wasn’t enough. "Sue for emotional damage," wrote k.<3. Ken had a more entrepreneurial approach, writing, "I’m just gonna use Waymo one time so I can be a part of the class action when it comes."

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Waymo now operates its driverless ride-hailing service across 10 U.S. cities, including Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando, with plans to expand to more than 20 cities by the end of 2026.

Motor1 reached out to Jojojojojo via TikTok direct message. We’ll be sure to update this if she responds.

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