Waymo reveals what happens to NYE revelers who pass out drunk in its self-driving taxis
Self-driving taxi company Waymo has revealed what would happen if a passenger passes out drunk in one of its vehicles, as many New Year’s Eve celebrants in the San Francisco Bay Area may choose to use one to get home safely.
The vehicles will first sense that something is wrong if no one opens the door when the robotaxi reaches its destination, a spokesperson for the California-based company said told the San Francisco Chronicle.
When that happens, the car’s many cameras spring into action.
The cameras, which use a machine learning model trained on “specific real-time cases,” can determine whether a passenger is incapacitated, the spokesperson said, noting that they can also detect whether or not someone is smoking in the vehicle. wearing a seat belt.
At that point, one of the company’s human employees would take a look.
Most staff can only see a “blurred view” of the car’s interior through the cameras, but a small number of authorized staff can view an uncensored live feed, the spokesperson explained.
If both the robotaxi and the human employee agree that the rider has become unconscious, one of Waymo’s “rider support agents” would reach out “after a while” through the car’s customer service interface to ask the rider if he needs assistance has.
If the passenger still does not respond, the officer will contact emergency services.
Self-driving taxi company Waymo has revealed what would happen if a passenger passed out drunk in one of its vehicles
New Year’s Eve revelers in the San Francisco Bay Area can choose to use one of the vehicles
This scenario has not yet occurred in San Francisco, fire Lt. Mariano Elias told the outlet.
He noted that firefighters have responded to other Waymo-related calls, such as when a teenager allegedly set fire to one of the vehicles in February or when a man stopped the self-driving vehicles to talk to a woman inside — but until so far no calls about fainted passengers.
In contrast, Elias said it’s “fairly 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 Year’s Eve.
But if the fire brigade were to receive a report of someone incapacitated in the robotaxi, the emergency responders would do what they normally do: assess the situation and provide medical assistance if necessary.
The only difference from a Waymo, Elias said, might be that a company employee would have to unlock the car’s doors remotely to allow fire personnel inside.
“Worst case, we break the window,” Elias said.
It’s unclear how often drunk-related disability occurs in any of the self-driving cars, but the spokesperson said it was “infrequent in the context of the more than 150,000 trips conducted in our markets each week.”
Waymo currently operates in San Francisco and expanded its operations to nearby cities in August.
Lt. Mariano Elias of the San Francisco Fire Department said it is “fairly 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 Year’s Eve
The precautions come as drunk driving deaths reach a 15-year high, 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 highest number since 2007.
Waymo now has partnerships with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Students Against Destructive Decisions to deter people who have been drinking from getting behind the wheel.
“Waymo is promoting its autonomous taxi platform as a way for someone to get home safely after drinking,” the spokesperson said.
“To do this effectively, we encourage passengers to double-check that their pick-up and drop-off locations are correct before announcing their ride.”