Two teenagers face possible charges after they were caught drinking and shooting a toy gun from inside a driverless Waymo vehicle Monday afternoon, an incident that prompted the company to remotely halt the car until police arrived.
While police praised Waymo's quick actions, the case is raising new questions among experts about passenger privacy and the role of autonomous vehicles in police investigations.
The incident began when San Mateo police received a 911 call from a Waymo representative. Employees monitoring the vehicle’s live interior camera feeds believed the passengers were firing a real weapon.
"We got a call from a Waymo representative stating there were two people in their vehicle and saw them shooting out of their vehicle," said Jeanine Luna, a community relations officer for the San Mateo Police Department. "They also reported seeing a recoil."
Irina Raicu, who directs the Internet Ethics program at the Markula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, joins Raj Mathai to discuss Waymo turning in teens who were drinking, shooting Orbeez from a robotaxi.
Waymo shared the car's location with authorities and remotely disabled it near 20th Avenue and El Camino Real while officers moved into position. To keep the teens from leaving, the company told them the vehicle was experiencing mechanical trouble, police said.
Officers treated the response as a high-risk traffic stop. They safely removed the 14- and 15-year-old passengers before searching the vehicle and their property. Investigators determined the teens had been shooting an Orbeez gun, a widely available toy that fires water-filled pellets.
Local
While the weapons are sold at local retailers, police warned that they can cause real property damage and often resemble actual firearms.
"BB guns, toy guns are getting painted over to look black, so to an untrained eye, you don’t know if it’s a real gun or not," Luna said.
Waymo declined to comment on the incident. However, the company's website states its vehicles are equipped with interior cameras and microphones, and that it may share information with law enforcement during emergencies or as permitted by law.
San Mateo police said Waymo employees monitoring the vehicle’s interior cameras believed the passengers were firing a real weapon and immediately called 911.
The situation highlights the ethical gray areas of driverless technology and active passenger monitoring, according to Irina Raicu, the internet ethics program director at Santa Clara University.
"I understand that it was the observation of the gun, but was it people outside the car who called Waymo … or was it something that set off the actual watching of the live video of the car?" Raicu asked.
Despite the privacy concerns, Luna commended Waymo's handling of the situation.
"They were right in calling us and letting us figure it out," Luna said.
Police also pointed out that despite the disruption, the teens made the smart choice to use a ride-hailing service rather than driving while impaired.
The teenagers were not arrested and were released to their parents. Investigators are asking the district attorney's office to review a possible open-container violation and are continuing to work with Waymo to determine if additional charges are appropriate.