Yes, it can, and this is exactly what happened to a couple of teenagers from San Mateo, CA. A Waymo robotaxi noticed that the two teen passengers in the car were misbehaving and reported their actions to a live company operator. The Waymo employee with direct access to the car’s cameras observed multiple violations and had no choice but to report the kids’ behavior to the police. The live operator informed the teens that the robotaxi had a mechanical issue and needed to reroute for urgent safety repairs. However, instead of driving to a service center, the robotaxi headed to a nearby parking lot. The two boys quickly realized what was happening as multiple police officers arrived to question them. Officers briefly detained the teenagers before returning them to their parents.
Key takeaways
- Robotaxis can and will report unruly passengers to the police.
- Waymo handed two 15-year-old passengers over to the police after they shot a toy gun and drank alcohol during a self-driving car ride.
- Waymo live-operator used a mechanical issue ruse to stop the car safely in a parking lot, where police detained the teenagers.
- Apart from major privacy complications, the teens face potential misdemeanor charges, fines for their parents, community service, and counseling.
What were the teens doing that warranted police intervention?
The two 15-year-old boys were on a summer break, taking a joy ride, drinking alcohol, and shooting Orbeez pellets from a SplatRBall-style gel blaster out of the car. Even though the toy gun posed little danger, its black paint made it look like a real firearm. Police also suspected that the teens had been drinking alcohol, a misdemeanor for minors in California. However, their age was not the only issue. They would still have faced legal trouble even if they had been over 21 because ride-hailing platforms like Waymo prohibit passengers from consuming alcohol during a ride. There is an exemption for commercial limousines and taxis, but open-container alcohol consumption is against the rules of companies such as Lyft, Waymo, and Uber.
What will happen to the misbehaving teenagers?
The kids’ actions will likely lead to fines for the teens’ parents and legal trouble for the 15-year-old boys. The boys are lucky, as this is their first interaction with law enforcement, so they are unlikely to be sent to a juvenile detention center. While the exact type of charges against them is not clear yet, as police are still investigating, it is possible that they will have to do some community service hours and will probably have to attend alcohol awareness and youth counseling classes. Waymo will likely ban their parents’ accounts for a long time. The company may also prevent the teens from creating their own accounts when they turn 18 by using facial recognition to identify them.
Were the passengers locked in or detained in the self-driving car?
They were not. Jeanine Luna, a San Mateo Police Department Community Relations Officer, confirmed that the kids were never locked in the car and could leave at any time. However, the live operator tricked the unruly teenagers into staying until SMPD officers arrived.
Are there any privacy concerns with Waymo self-driving cars?
Yes, there are. Until this incident, most Waymo users believed that company staff only reviewed the interior cameras after passengers left the vehicle to check for forgotten items and assess its overall cleanliness. However, this case highlights that the use of live video feed of interior cameras is also possible for Waymo employees who believe there are urgent circumstances. This means that live operators can monitor underage passengers riding in self-driving taxis at any time through multiple in-car cameras. These operators may work in other states or even in countries such as the Philippines, where Waymo has corporate operations.
Having fun during the summer break sounds like a good time. However, drinking alcohol and shooting a gun from a self-driving robotaxi is one of the fastest ways to attract the attention of law enforcement. The boys’ actions quickly jeopardized their privacy and turned their NorCal afternoon joyride into a high-risk stop by police officers, bringing them and their families lots of trouble.
