(Credit: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
Waymo's autonomous cars apparently now have a side gig as neighborhood watch.
As reported by 404 Media, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) published footage of a hit-and-run obtained from a driverless Waymo car and asked the public for help.
In the short YouTube video, a nearby white sedan is seen colliding with a pedestrian. According to the LAPD, the incident took place on Dec. 22 and severely injured a 29-year-old man. The driver failed to stop the car, identify themselves, and provide the pedestrian with the necessary aid, as required by law. The department is now offering a reward of up to $25,000 for anyone who provides "information leading to the offender’s identification, apprehension, and conviction or resolution through a civil compromise."
Waymo officially opened its robotaxis to everyone in LA in November, though it had been testing them for months; we checked them out last summer. The company's Jaguar I-Pace all-electric cars are equipped with sensors and cameras that provide a 360-degree vision system and can identify important details like pedestrians and stop signs. These cars "can see up to three football fields in any direction," Waymo says.
(Credit: Google)Waymo’s system, however, isn’t designed to identify individual people, and the company doesn't proactively share footage with the police.
“Waymo does not provide information or data to law enforcement without a valid legal request, usually in the form of a warrant, subpoena, or court order,” a company spokesperson tells 404 Media. “These requests are often the result of eyewitnesses or other video footage that identifies a Waymo vehicle at the scene.”
In the past, police in San Francisco and Maricopa County in Arizona have issued warrants for Waymo’s footage. Upon receiving a request, the Alphabet-owned company verifies its validity and provides data tailored to the warrant's subject.
“We will narrow the data provided if a request is overbroad, and in some cases, object to producing any information at all,” the spokesperson added. The last line probably explains why LAPD's footage is just 7 seconds long.
Meanwhile, Waymo is expanding its market rapidly in the US. Operations in four new Bay Area cities and Austin began last month, with Atlanta launching next.