By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-01 02:46:37 | Updated at 2025-01-05 21:29:10
4 days ago
Self-driving taxi company Waymo has revealed what would happen if a passenger passes out drunk in one of its vehicles, as many New Years Eve revelers across the San Francisco Bay Area may opt to use one to get home safely.
The vehicles will first sense that something is wrong if nobody opens the door when the robotaxi reaches its destination, a spokesperson for the California-based company told the San Francisco Chronicle.
When that happens, the car's many cameras will spring into action.
The cameras, which use a machine-learning model trained on 'specific real time cases,' are able to determine whether a passenger is incapacitated, the spokesperson said, noting that they are also able to detect if someone is smoking inside the vehicle or not wearing a seatbelt.
At that point, one of the company's human employees would take a look.
Most of the staff members can only see a 'blurred vision' of the car's interior through the cameras, but a small number of authorized employees can view an uncensored live feed, the spokesperson explained.
If both the robotaxi and the human employee agree the rider is passed out drunk, one of Waymo's 'rider support agents' would reach out 'after a while' using the car's customer service interface to ask the rider if they need help.
If the passenger still doesn't respond, the agent will contact emergency personnel.
Self-driving taxi company Waymo has revealed what would happen if a passenger passes out drunk in one of its vehicles
New Years Eve revelers across the San Francisco Bay Area may opt to use one of the vehicles
This scenario has not yet taken place in San Francisco, Fire Department Lt. Mariano Elias told the outlet.
He noted that fire crews have responded to other Waymo-related calls, like when a teenager allegedly set fire to one of the vehicle in February or when a man stalled the self-driving vehicles to talk to a woman inside - but thus far no calls about passed out passengers.
By contrast, Elias said it is 'pretty common' for the fire department to receive a call from an Uber or Lyft driver about a passenger passed out in a vehicle, especially on New Years Eve.
But if the fire department did receive a report of someone incapacitated in the robotaxi, first responders would do what they normally do - assess the situation and provide medical help if necessary.
The only difference with a Waymo, Elias said, might be that a company employee would have to unlock the car's doors remotely to let fire personnel in.
'Worst case scenario, we'll break the window,' Elias said.
It is unclear how often intoxication-related incapacitation occurs in one of the self-driving cars, but the spokesperson said it happened 'infrequently in the context of the over 150,000 trips served each week across our markets.'
Waymo currently operates in San Francisco, and expanded its operation to nearby cities in August.
San Francisco Fire Department Lt. Mariano Elias said it is 'pretty common' for the department to receive a call from an Uber or Lyft driver about a passenger passed out in a vehicle, especially on New Years Eve
The precautions come as drunk driving deaths hit the highest level in 15 years, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In December 2022, the last year for which data is available, 1,062 people died in drunk-driving related crashes - the most since 2007.
Waymo now has partnerships with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Students Against Destructive Decisions to help dissuade people who have been drinking from getting behind the wheel.
'Waymo encourages its autonomous ride-hailing platform as one way in which a person can get home safely after drinking,' the spokesperson said.
'To do so effectively, we encourage riders to double check that their pick up and drop off locations are correct before hailing their ride.'
