Anyone who has ever asked a stranger in a coffee shop to observe their laptop knows unattended tech makes an enticing goal for thieves. Waymo got one more reminder of this fact this week after a person in downtown LA attempted to take over one among its driverless cars.
The incident happened within the early morning hours of January 2. Police arrived on scene to seek out a person sitting in the driving force’s seat of on of Waymo’s Jaguar I-Pace SUVs, CBS Los Angeles reports:
A person, who authorities say was possibly under the influence, was in the driving force’s seat of one among Waymo’s fully electric Jaguar I-PACEs when officers arrived to the scene near South Hill Street and Fifth Street around 12:30 a.m., based on the Los Angeles Police Department. Footage shows officers pulling him out of the driving force’s seat, where nobody will likely be sitting within the self-driving cars.
The unidentified man was arrested and brought into custody after authorities pulled him out of the vehicle. Waymo recently launched its driverless automotive service in Los Angeles in November 2024. Within the two months the service has been online, the corporate told CBS that there have “only been a handful of instances” out of 5 million or so rides where someone attempted to steal one among its vehicles. As this recent thief likely learned, even if you happen to do manage to make it into the front seat of a Waymo, you’re not going to get very far. In an announcement to CBS, the corporate explained the way it’s inconceivable for unauthorized drivers to do anything with one among the vehicles.
Waymo vehicles are designed in order that unauthorized individuals cannot disengage the automated driving system and manually operate the vehicles,” Waymo said within the statement. “When any unauthorized individual sits in the driving force’s seat, Waymo’s Rider Support team can ask them to depart the vehicle and end the ride. In the event that they don’t comply with commands to depart the vehicle, Rider Support coordinates with our Emergency Response Team, which works with law enforcement to reply.
The corporate said the system that operates its vehicles known as the “Waymo driver” and consists of its AI self-driving tech, the range of sensors and cameras on the vehicle and its software. Waymo says this tech can also be able to determining when a rider could also be drunk or if “an individual inside is smoking or not wearing their seatbelt.”
The LAPD says in March 2024, a person attempted to steal one other Waymo driverless automotive in downtown Los Angeles. Police say the person attempted to place the automotive into drive but couldn’t determine the right way to work the controls. A Waymo rep used the in-car communication system to attempt to get the person to depart. When he didn’t, that’s when police were contacted and he was arrested.
While Waymo’s foremost competitor, GM backed Cruise was recently shut down, it doesn’t seem as if Cruise had many problems with theft. Except for embarrassing glitches, evidently human drivers would often hit the driverless cars after which flee the scene when nobody was spotted behind the wheel.
This Article First Appeared At jalopnik.com
