ALL HAIL THE ROBOTAXI?

They're already a common sight in America, and now Waymo's driverless cabs are coming to London. But with reports of road crashes, passengers getting locked in and immobilised vehicles, it may be a bumpy road ahead...

- By Peter Sheridan

MIKE Johns was trapped, and growing desperate. The tech entrepreneur's flight home to Los Angeles was departing shortly, but his taxi was making repeated circles in the airport parking lot in Scottsdale, Arizona, and he could not escape.

On any other day, he might have begged the cab driver to pull over and end his dizzying misery.

But like an episode of dystopian sci-fi series Black Mirror come to life, Johns was caught in a self-driving vehicle with nobody in the car but himself and a computer programme that had gone rogue.

"I got my seatbelt on, I can't get out of the car!" he lamented to a customer service agent he finally reached on his mobile phone.

"Has this been hacked? What's going on? I feel like I'm in the movies. Is somebody playing a joke on me?"

Johns' wild ride in January is among a succession of problems that have plagued Waymo, the robocar taxi service that this week won approval to bring its fleet of self-driving cabs to London next year.

"Great news, Londoners!" declared the company in a welcoming statement. "We're bringing our fully autonomous ride-hailing service across the pond, where we intend to offer rides with no human being behind the wheel in 2026."

But is Britain ready for the attack of the robocars, which, if their experience in America is any guide, could spread across the country like the Day of the Triffids?

Waymo's driverless taxis have experienced a succession of troubles for its human passengers, as well as for motorists, frustrated pedestrians and bewildered police.

On Britain's overcrowded highways, where drivers compete for space with buses, bikes and scooters, the addition of robocars is hoped to make our streets less dangerous.