Cool tech, crazy turns: A reporter's take on driverless cars

Waymo recently launched the United States' first large-scale ride-hailing service with autonomous vehicles that don’t have human backup drivers

CHANDLER, Ariz. -- The annoyed shopper paced around and knocked on the windows of a minivan blocking him from leaving his Costco parking spot. He didn’t seem to notice, or care, that there was no one inside. A colleague and I had called for the Waymo ride — our first in a fully driverless vehicle — and quickly encountered a hiccup: figuring out how to tell it to meet us at the curb. We ended up spotting the minivan across the bustling parking lot, and hurried over. As we pulled away, the shopper raised his arm and extended his middle finger. Welcome to the United States’ first large-scale ride-hailing service with no backup drivers, which Waymo recently launched in suburban Phoenix.