An inherent issue with Waymo’s driverless cars is that there’s no one physically in the vehicle to keep passengers accountable. But just because there’s no Waymo bouncer riding shotgun doesn’t mean the company has no idea what’s happening inside its cars.
As the Associated Press recently reported, two 15-year-olds in Northern California found that out the hard way after allegedly getting drunk, hanging halfway out of the windows of a moving Waymo, and firing water-based gel pellet guns into the street.
Waymo noticed, and the driverless car proceeded to deliver some sweet justice as if it were Robocop, if he were a Jaguar I-PACE.
The Waymo Didn’t Trap the Teens, Just Quietly Drove Them to the Cops
According to San Mateo police, a company representative contacted law enforcement while the ride was still in progress. The driverless car was then remotely directed into a parking lot, where officers were waiting. It’s not like the Waymo locked the doors and trapped the teens inside; they were free to leave at any time. They didn’t. They just rode it out until they were dropped off at the least thrilling rideshare drop-off spot imaginable: a parking lot filled with cops.
The cops say the teens had been drinking and shooting Orbeez, those soft gel beads that your kids or nieces and nephews will likely shoot you with at some point this summer. The officers searched the vehicle with the help of a K-9 unit before taking the teens into custody.
Let this be a reminder to you all, especially you horny folk who think being in an empty car gives you free rein to diddle one another or yourself — Waymos may be autonomous, but they aren’t entirely unsupervised. There are interior cameras that are mostly used for things like helping people find items they left behind, assisting during emergencies, or verifying a vehicle’s condition.
Apparently, they can also be used to narc on some rowdy kids.
The post Waymo Snitched on Teens for Drinking and Shooting Toy Guns, Then Dropped Them Off With the Cops appeared first on VICE.
