Google ditched autopilot driving feature after user napped

Waymo, a self-driving car company spun out from Google's parent company Alphabet, has stopped developing features that require drivers to take control in dangerous situations, its chief executive has said. Autopilot reliance has left users prone to distractions and ill-prepared to manoeuvre, the company said. The decision followed experiments of the technology in Silicon Valley that showed test users napping, putting on makeup and fiddling with their phones as the vehicles travelled up to 56mph (90kph). Alphabet's self-driving car unit Waymo (pictured) has stopped developing features that required drivers to take control in dangerous situations, its chief executive said on Monday Other self-driving automakers include similar autopilot features for highway-driving in vehicles, but they require drivers to take over the steering wheel in tricky situations. Waymo planned to do the same.