Waymo stopped Los Angeles man from stealing a driverless car

Waymothe ride-hailing app that operates driverless cars and is owned by the Google company Alphabet, prevented a man from driving in one of his electric Jaguars Thursday, CBS News and others reported.

LAPD responded to a report of an attempted carjacking shortly after midnight Thursday morning, according to the Los Angeles Timeswhere they found a man sitting in the driver’s seat of a Waymo vehicle. The man, who may have been under the influence, got into the passenger seat and slid into the driver’s side. Normally, no one is in the driver’s seat except for the occasional Waymo employee doing so to test drive the car.

The company said LA Times what you do Waymo cars are designed so people can’t cancel the automatic driving system. Vehicles can also move evasively, honk their horns, announce that 911 is being called, and fold in exterior door handles so no one can get in.

If someone gets into the driver’s seat, Waymo’s pilot support team is notified and can ask the person to leave the car. If they don’t – like what happened with the man on Thursday – the police are called. In the five million rides that Waymo has provided, only “a handful” of people have tried to steal the cars, the company told LA Times. The Los Angeles man who got into the Waymo this week was eventually released by police at the scene.

Waymo’s autonomous vehicles currently serving Los Angeles, San Francisco and Phoenix, and coming soon Austin, Atlantaand Miami, according to its website.