Waymo glitch sparks push for stronger autonomous vehicle regulations PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Eight dizzying loops through a Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport parking lot turned tech entrepreneur Mike Johns from a Waymo passenger into an advocate pushing for consumer protections and transparency in autonomous vehicle technology. Johns found himself trapped in a circling Waymo in December 2024 on his way to Sky Harbor Airport. The vehicle left the rental car area and began looping through a parking lot so many times that Johns worried he might miss his flight. “It’s this feeling like you’re at an amusement park,” Johns said. After eight loops, Waymo customer support resolved the problem. But the video of the incident received millions of views. From passenger to advocate Following the incident, Johns formed Consumer AI Protection Advocates to press for what the group considers responsible AI innovation. During Arizona Tech Week, the group previewed research from Dr. Sharon Bethea on the impact of outlier incidents on public trust. “Adoption is driven by perceived safety rather than actual safety, and perception is shaped by what people see,” said Bethea, a Northeastern Illinois University professor. “Not what the engineers have to say or what the engineers measure.” Bethea said that although the technology is advancing and showing it can outperform humans, people don’t emotionally connect to millions of safe miles. According to Waymo, its vehicles have been involved in 92% fewer serious injury crashes than human drivers over its first 170 million miles. The group wants states to adopt stronger data and transparency policies for autonomous vehicles. Dr. Michelle Traveler, another member of the group and an information technology expert, wants Waymo to make adjustments to the screens inside vehicles that share information with passengers. “We need to build that human-machine interface,” Traveler said. “So when people are