It turns out self-driving cars will also self-report to the authorities.
The San Mateo Police Department in California reports that it detained two 15-year-olds who’d been drinking while riding in an autonomous Waymo vehicle.
According to a Facebook post by the San Mateo PD, the Waymo detected that the teens were drinking and “shooting from the vehicle,” and atomically contacted police.
“After calling us and stopping the car, we were able to safely remove both subjects and determined they were shooting Orbeez from the car as they sipped on afternoon libations while being chauffeured around town in the driverless vehicle,” police say.
“While there was some ingenuity to this scheme, toy guns, water guns, and BB guns all pose real dangers, especially to an untrained eye,” the post continues. “The simple handling of them can cause fear in passerby’s [sic] or to those who don’t get a good look. Shooting projectiles at speed can cause real damage. And lest not forget the underage drinking. All bad ideas today for these two.”
Police do note that ordering a Waymo “might have been the smartest idea yet, because driving impaired would’ve made this so much worse.”