Waymo gets stuck in Chick-fil-A drive-thru

A Waymo driverless taxi caused a backup at a bustling fast food drive-thru in Santa Monica Monday evening.

Videos shared with KTLA show the autonomous vehicle stalled out in the middle of the drive-thru entrance at Chick-fil-A, causing a larger-than-usual line for waiting customers.

It happened around 9:30 p.m. at a Chick-fil-A on Lincoln Blvd., according to Chris Kellogg, who was among those waiting for the self-driving vehicle to self-drive its way back onto the street.

His videos showed Chick-fil-A workers standing around the stalled vehicle, which had its hazard lights on before it backed up briefly and briskly and stopped again.

Kellogg said he waited in line for about a half-hour before being told the restaurant, which is drive-thru only, was closed.

Still a developing technology, Waymo driverless taxis have gotten turned around or confused on the roadway after first being deployed on city streets several years ago. But ending up at a fast food restaurant, let alone the drive-thru line, is an unusual detour.

It’s unclear if anyone was inside the vehicle at the time or if the taxi was directed to the Chick-fil-A as part of a fare — or if it became sentient and required organic matter for fuel — but Waymo did confirm to KTLA that the vehicle got stuck and its “team” recovered it from the site.

A spokesperson said that the company, which is a subsidiary of Google’s parent company, is “committed to continuously improving our service and making appropriate updates to prevent this from happening in the future.”

KTLA reached out to Chick-fil-A’s corporate office but did not receive a response.