"Thank you, car!"
That's what some Phoenix passengers said after riding around in Waymo's driverless Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivan. Others were underwhelmed after participating in the novel experience.
Waymo CEO John Krafcik at the South by Southwest conference in Austin Tuesday showed the video above full of passenger reactions to an empty driver's seat and a real self-driving experience. One person started playing on her phone, a few passengers yawned, and one guy even nodded off.
After watching the video, the conversation between Krafcik and Vice News Tonight correspondent Evan McMorris-Santoro veered into a different direction. The reporter wanted to know if you don't have to drive or even pay attention can you have sex in a Waymo?
“That’s a great question,” Krafcik responded, adding, "We’ve done thousands of rides in Phoenix and that hasn’t happened yet."
The truly driverless car experience is considered Level 4 autonomy -- previously a back-up driver was in the car ready to take over. Now it's all remote, leaving passengers to, well, their own devices. The self-driving cars have been test driving in Phoenix since November, but now the test driver is gone.
As one rider said, "It's the future."
Topics Self-Driving Cars SXSW
