Just a few weeks back, Waymo got the thumbs up to start testing its self-driving cars in Arizona without the need for a human “safety net” behind the wheel.
Wonder what it’s like to ride in one? This morning at SXSW, the company released a video showing off the experience had by the first few riders.
The folks in the video up above are part of Waymo’s “Early Rider” program — in other words, folks who opted in to riding without a safety driver. Waymo CEO John Krafcik said that around 20,000 people around Phoenix, Arizona had signed up.
Though just under a minute long, the video does a pretty good job of capturing what it’s like to ride in a self-driving car. It’s a bit freaky and mind-blowing at first… but if everything goes as planned, within a few minutes you’ll probably find yourself spacing out and doing whatever you normally do as a passenger. That’s the hope, at least.
“The most rewarding things were the yawns,” said Krafcik.
The video also points out what’ll probably be a sort of funny habit to break for anyone who’s gotten used to ride sharing their way around town: with no driver, there’s no one to say “Thanks, have a good day!” to on the way out.
Waymo just clicked its way past its 5 millionth self-driven mile a few days ago.