I'm not saying it was happening here, I'm just taking this anecdote as food for thought. I'm appalled to learn that those vehicles don't have an emergency stop system. A real emergency stop. Not some remote-controlled or AI-assisted stuff. A low-tech, last-chance emergency stop, like the one you have in trains or on any industrial machine.

> You've never been in a Uber that took a wrong turn? Never argued with a cab driver about a route?

If a cab driver keeps cricling on a parking lot, again and again and again, never finding the obvious exit, I'll get a bit concerned and eventually tell him "OK, never mind, I'll find another way, just drop me there". If he refuses to let me off, and locks the doors, and keeps circling, I'll be extremely anxious. This is horror movie material.