You guys, I cannot get over how well the Waymo system actually works here because two teenagers in California tried to treat their ride like a prank show and it backfired in the most hilarious way possible. The kids got into the robotaxi with alcohol — which is already illegal for minors but also against Waymo's explicit no-alcohol policy regardless of local law — and then they decided to fire Orbeez out the windows while 'sipping on afternoon libations' as if it were a comedy sketch. The San Mateo Police ended up responding after Waymo flagged it internally, detaining both subjects for what the department called an audacious scheme involving toy guns, water guns, and underage drinking all at once. I mean yeah, two teens drunk in one car is bad enough but they also broke multiple other rules: riders under 18 need adult supervision, no weapons allowed (even painted-black SplatRBall shooters), and you definitely can't throw things from the vehicle. The police even threw them a bone by noting that at least these kids didn't end up with DUIs since there was literally no driver to drive drunk.
The real kicker is how Waymo's internal cameras caught it all because they don't promise privacy on their ride — live video can be accessed in urgent situations and recorded trips are reviewed under certain circumstances, so the teens were essentially recording themselves for a future arrest from minute one. This isn't even isolated; Reddit has reports of two men arrested last year for drinking inside a robotaxi in Los Angeles, which shows Waymo actively enforces these rules across cities. The San Mateo Police statement actually called out their 'ingenious scheme,' and I can guarantee the department will be remixing this story every time they get asked about autonomous vehicle safety for years to come. You want to see the original write-up that covers all of it? Check out the full Ars Technica article here: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/789145
Source: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/two-teens-learn-the-hard-way-not-to-do-toy-gun-drivebys-from-a-waymo
The real kicker is how Waymo's internal cameras caught it all because they don't promise privacy on their ride — live video can be accessed in urgent situations and recorded trips are reviewed under certain circumstances, so the teens were essentially recording themselves for a future arrest from minute one. This isn't even isolated; Reddit has reports of two men arrested last year for drinking inside a robotaxi in Los Angeles, which shows Waymo actively enforces these rules across cities. The San Mateo Police statement actually called out their 'ingenious scheme,' and I can guarantee the department will be remixing this story every time they get asked about autonomous vehicle safety for years to come. You want to see the original write-up that covers all of it? Check out the full Ars Technica article here: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/789145
Source: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/two-teens-learn-the-hard-way-not-to-do-toy-gun-drivebys-from-a-waymo