> Surely the driverless car hasn't locked him inside. Right?
Every (modern) car I’ve been in, driverless or not, will lock the doors once the vehicle is in motion - automakers are not in the habit of letting passengers fall into the road like that. Just imagine the lawsuits…
It's been my (limited) experience that there's a manual override that can still be unlocked. Can't I slide the lock lever to the unlocked position while the car is in motion?
I'd also submit that in any case where I'd open the door while the vehicle is in motion, I'd have a damned good reason for wanting to do so[0] and would not take kindly to being thwarted.
[0] Usually: backing the plow truck up to a small, flat utility trailer that's invisible through the rear window.
Child safety locks that prevent people from opening locked doors from the inside are standard on four door vehicles for the rear doors, but they can usually be disabled.
My two-door had them disabled by default and it's not uncommon for taxis and rideshares to disable them.
It seems insane not to disable them in a Waymo - you wouldn't be able to escape in an emergency.
I think it's usually locked from the outside. Opening the door from the inside (in most cars I've been in) works.
I would actually be surprised of the opposite (not being able to leave a vehicle because the doors are locked). This sounds very scary in an emergency situation where you have to leave the vehicle
The locks on my car don’t prevent me from opening front doors while driving. The only rear doors have a child safety switch which would stop the doors from opening when locked. But you have to turn that on.
You don’t want a locked door preventing you from exiting the car if you have a crash.
Surely every driverless vehicle ought to have a button that when pressed gracefully stops the car so the passengers can safely exit.