Autonomous vehicles—such as those on offer from companies like Cruise or Waymo in San Francisco—are offering exciting new possibilities for those seeking an easy, social-anxiety-free ride home. They’re also apparently incredibly horny places to be, according to a new article from the San Francisco Standard.
“As autonomous vehicles become increasingly popular in San Francisco,” the piece explains, “some riders are wondering just how far they can push the vehicles’ limits—especially with no front-seat driver or chaperone to discourage them from questionable behavior.”
But is hooking up in the back of a driverless vehicle questionable, or inevitable? I mean, it’s not like this doesn’t happen in cars where the driver is present. Still, the thought that autonomous vehicles—perhaps combined with an atmosphere of post-pandemic randiness—could usher in a new golden age of semi-public sex is intriguing, especially for San Francisco’s sizable queer population.
RelatedGrimes asked Elon Musk exactly what we’ve all been thinking about and his response is eyebrow raising.
The Standard dug up a 2018 study that in fact predicted this very trend: if a city stops depending on rent-by-the-hour motels, the study asks, what’s to stop driverless vehicles from becoming the new hookup hotspot? Especially when you think about the fact that although Waymo and Cruise’s vehicles record each drive, the footage isn’t likely to be looked over except in the instance of a crash or a violent incident. And even if that wasn’t the case, some users probably find the extra risk to be part of the thrill. In the absence of hard and fast rules about what is and isn’t allowed in these cars, it’s practically the Wild West. So yeah, why wouldn’t people be hooking up during the ride?
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