Related reports allegeA man in Los Angeles took a Waymo self-driving car and tried to drive away by sitting in the driver's seat, but was eventually stopped by Waymo's "anti-theft" mechanism.
According to Waymo, its self-driving system is designed to prioritize control during normal operation, preventing passengers from taking the driver's seat and manually operating the vehicle. Furthermore, before passengers board, the self-driving system retracts the door handles to prevent unauthorized entry and reduce the risk of vehicle theft.
In addition to staff members who can sit in the driver's seat during the test process, once someone sits in the driver's seat during a normal ride, the self-driving system will automatically notify the Waymo team and ask the person in the driver's seat to leave the position. If it is impossible to persuade them to leave, the police will be notified for assistance.
Waymo said that in the more than 500 million self-driving car rides it has provided, only a few people have attempted to steal the car, but they were eventually stopped by the anti-theft mechanism of the self-driving car system.
Waymo currently provides self-driving ride-hailing services in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, and plans to provide services in Austin, Atlanta, and Miami.
