Waymo, the ride-hailing app that operates driverless cars and is owned by Google parent company Alphabet, stopped a man from driving off in one of its electric Jaguars on Thursday, CBS News and others reported.
LAPD responded to a report of an attempted auto theft shortly after midnight on Thursday morning, according to the Los Angeles Times, where they found a man sitting in the driver’s seat of a Waymo vehicle. The man, who may have been under the influence, had reportedly entered through the passenger’s seat and slid into the driver’s side. Normally, no one is in the driver’s seat save for occasions when a Waymo employee does so to test the car.
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The company told the LA Times that Waymo cars are designed so people can’t override the automated driving system. The vehicles can also move evasively, honk its horns, announce 911 is being called, and fold in exterior door handles so no one can get inside.
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If someone does get in the driver’s seat, Waymo’s rider support team is alerted and can request the person leave the car. If they don’t — like what happened with the man on Thursday — the police are called. In the five million rides Waymo has provided, only a “handful” of people have attempted to steal the cars, the company told the LA Times. The Los Angeles man who climbed into the Waymo this week was eventually released by police at the scene.
Waymo’s autonomous vehicles are currently servicing Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix, and are coming soon to Austin, Atlanta, and Miami, according to its website.
