(Thechieftainspear) – A driverless Waymo vehicle created an unexpected traffic hiccup at a Santa Monica Chick-fil-A on Monday night, stalling at the entrance to the fast food chain’s drive-thru and causing a long delay for hungry customers.
The incident unfolded around 9:30 p.m. at the Chick-fil-A location on Lincoln Boulevard. According to witness Chris Kellogg, who shared videos of the scene with KTLA, the autonomous car came to a stop right at the drive-thru entrance, flashing its hazard lights and remaining unresponsive for a period of time.
The footage showed employees gathering around the car, likely unsure how to handle the stalled vehicle, which briefly reversed before coming to another stop. The result? A growing line of vehicles and a lot of puzzled diners.
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Kellogg, one of the many people stuck behind the vehicle, reported waiting approximately 30 minutes before being informed that the restaurant — which operates only via drive-thru — was shutting down for the night.
While Waymo’s self-driving cars have occasionally gotten confused in urban environments, ending up in a fast food drive-thru lane is a more unusual misstep. It remains unclear whether the car was carrying a passenger, had been directed there as part of a trip, or simply took a wrong turn.
Waymo, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet, confirmed the vehicle had become stuck and stated that their recovery team was dispatched to retrieve it. A spokesperson added that the company is always working to improve performance and will make necessary adjustments to avoid similar situations.
As of Tuesday morning, Chick-fil-A had not released a statement in response to the incident.
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