Driverless Waymo Car Calls Calif. Police on Teens Accused of Drinking, Firing Water Beads
What to Know
- Two 15-year-olds were detained after a Waymo driverless vehicle alerted authorities during a ride in which they allegedly drank alcohol and fired water beads from a toy gun.
- Waymo stopped the vehicle in a parking lot and contacted San Mateo police, who responded and detained the teens at a shopping center.
- The incident highlighted the monitoring capabilities inside Waymo vehicles, which use interior cameras that can be reviewed by company personnel and accessed live in urgent situations.
Two San Francisco Bay Area teens who engaged a Waymo car for an afternoon of carousing were busted after the vehicle delivered them to police.
The 15-year-olds allegedly were drinking alcohol and shooting water beads from a toy gun as they rode in the driverless car Monday, the San Mateo police’s social media post said. Waymo stopped the car in a parking lot and notified the police, who detained the teens.
Police photos show five officers, one with a dog, surrounding the car at a shopping center just south of the interchange of El Camino Real and Highway 92.
The police post allowed “there was some ingenuity to this scheme” but said underage drinking and brandishing of even toy guns to strangers are “bad ideas.”
Waymo cars have interior cameras, and the images can be monitored by the company’s employees. In “more urgent circumstances,” the support team “may access live video during a trip,” Waymo’s support page says.
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