Waymo CEO Pledges To Fight Any Human Driving Ban, "Because 911s"

As we head towards a future of fully autonomous driving, one question has persisted for enthusiasts: will we one day be banned from operating cars ourselves? Sure, the tech won’t be ready for many, many years, but even so, you can’t help but wonder if governments around the world would seek to ban human driving in the name of safety.

Perhaps surprisingly, John Krafcik, CEO of big autonomy player Waymo, has a different view. Asked by Jalopnik if he thought human drivers would have to be banned in the future, Krafcik said: “Good heavens no…I am not that sort of a believer.”

Krafcik, who owns a 2006 Porsche 911 Carrera and a Caterham Seven among other petrolhead favourites, reckons there’s scope for ‘manual’ driving mixing with full autonomy in the future. “There are going to be times when we just want to get into our 911, and take it for a drive…because that’s that we want to do,” he said, adding, “And I think we’ll always have the choice.”

Furthermore, if a ban on human drivers was touted by the powers-that-be, Krafcik said Waymo would “fight” it. Why? “Because 911s,” he said…