Should anyone squeeze their body out the window of a moving Waymo and stick their head up above the roof like they’re skateboarding on a robotic car while taking selfies and drinking an energy drink? No, of course not. Minors least of all.
But is it cool? Well, doing a wheelie on a motorcycle at 120 miles-per-hour while smoking a cigarette is cool. It’s cool precisely because if you do it you’re being stupid and risking death.
So with all that said, look at these cool teens:
According to a witness named Rojia Shashavani, this happened June 19 on Olympic Blvd. in Santa Monica, CA, headed toward West Los Angeles. “What was shocking for me,” Shashavani told LA’s KTLA News, “was how young they were, especially the boy sitting at the very front who appeared to be maybe under ten—eight or nine years old.” If she’s correct about an eight-year-old, that’s horrifying. But Waymo claimed to the LA Times that only two of the three minors who were riding in the car sat on window ledges in this way, and only for a short time.
It also said the account used in the stunt was suspended.
It probably goes without saying, but these teens appear to be breaking Waymo’s seatbelt rule. And if it’s true that they’re unsupervised, that’s against Waymo’s rule against minors riding without an accompanying adult (unless they’re in the lawless land of Phoenix, Arizona, where 14- 17-year-olds can ride alone).
According to a Business Insider story from last month, it looks like Waymo was already aware that teens riding without adults was a potential problem. Human operators had been chiming in during people’s rides to “card” them—but apparently no ID card is actually checked when this happens. Riders are just verbally asked to confirm they’re over 18, and that they’re the account holder who requested the ride.
Waymo operator just interrupted my trip on rider support to verify that I was over 18.
Honestly…. Thank you?!
— Christina Melas-Kyriazi (@ChristinaPhili5) May 15, 2026
“For the safety of our riders, we have policies in place to help us identify violations of our terms of service, including age eligibility,” a Waymo spokesperson told Insider, adding, “At times, we may contact riders to verify they are aged 18 years or older — or 14-17 for authorized teen accounts in Phoenix.”
But as for whether or not these teens are cool, I’m afraid it’s no contest. Shashavani told them to “sit back down,” she told the LA Times, but not only did they ignore her; they completely dunked on her. “One of them said he only spoke Italian,” Shashavani said.
Shashavani told the Times she followed the teens’ Waymo for several miles. She apparently got on the phone with Waymo, who told her they had the ability to bring the ride to a stop, but “they kept telling me, ‘It’s not the right place to stop the car.’”
Waymo told the Times that all three boys arrived at their destination safely. And, unfortunately, it’s hard to imagine their parents came up with a punishment harsh enough for the stunt not to be worth it in their eyes.
Read the full article here
