Self-driving taxi company Waymo has revealed what would happen if a passenger passes out drunk in one of its vehicles. The vehicle will first sense that something is wrong if nobody opens the door when the robotaxi reaches its destination. When that happens, the car’s many cameras will spring into action. The cameras are able to determine whether a passenger is incapacitated, just as they can detect if someone isn’t wearing a seat belt or is smoking inside the vehicle. At that point, one of the company’s human employees would take a look using an uncensored live feed. If both the robotaxi and the human employee agree that the rider is passed out drunk, one of Waymo’s “rider support agents” would reach out using the customer service interface to ask the rider if they need help. If they get no response, emergency services would be contacted. So far, that hasn’t happened, though there was a case where a teenager set the interior of the robotaxi on fire.
