Waymo and AAA Team Up to Educate Kids on Autonomous Cars

Since last month, Waymo has been working with AAA on a plan that will serve a double function: educate kids on AVs and offer Waymo a fresh perspective on their current efforts. The latest step in the program saw a group of children visiting the closed-course facility to see how AVs work, to interact with them and ask questions.

One of the students invited remarked that it was “great” that self-driving vehicles existed since they made the roads safer in the case of distracted drivers. One teacher also praised Waymo for thinking about children’s safety.

As part of the plan, called Let’s Talk Self-driving, Waymo is working with AAA Northern California, Nevada and Utah, Mothers Against Driving, The National Safety Council, The Foundation for the Blind Children and others. Waymo and AAA will also develop a Lesson Plan module on AVs, which “encourages students to think about ways to make driving safer and how autonomous vehicles can reduce unsafe behavior such as texting and eating while driving," Waymo says in a blog post on Medium.

“The partnership with Waymo and many other notable like-minded organizations in the Let’s Talk Self-Driving campaign is a critical addition to our efforts in advocating for our Members and educating the public around automated driving technology,” says Ignacio Garcia, Vice President, Autonomous Vehicle Strategy for AAA Northern California, Nevada and Utah. “Over a century ago, AAA led America’s transition from the horse-and-buggy to the motor car. Our goal now is to again be the public’s trusted advocate for self-driving cars, especially focused on safety.”

By getting children involved, Waymo aims to keep safety at the forefront of progress in the field of driverless vehicles. It also wants to get children involved in the technology they will be using when they grow up.