car pile up
Some Uber driverless taxis pictured yesterday on the M25

 

An experimental ‘driverless’ Uber taxi was arrested and charged with drunk self-driving after cops in West London were alerted that the cab had collided with a number of vehicles before crashing through a hedge in Fulham in December last year.

The arresting officer told Horseferry Road magistrates court that he was called to an incident in Fulham Broadway on Christmas Eve and found the taxi in a front garden with the lights and windscreen wipers on and the radio playing loudly.

PC Tobias Dell, told the court: “I was called to the scene after complaints from members of the public that a private hire vehicle had collided with a number of stationary vehicles before crashing through a hedge into a front garden.

“After switching off the engine, I noticed a strong smell of drink inside the vehicle and immediately suspected that it had been self-driving under the influence of alcohol.

“As I was taking down the registration details, the vehicle’s onboard computer became abusive.

“At one point it told me to “fuck off back to the piggery” and that it “could take me with one hand behind its back”

“When I made the formal arrest, it began to cry and told me that I was its “best mate” and begged me to let the matter drop, telling me that it would make it “worth my while”

“The vehicle was then towed to the police pound where it was found to have 5 times the permitted level of alcohol in its fuel”

The magistrate found the cab guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol and banned it from getting hopelessly lost in and around London for 2 years

This latest incident comes 2 weeks after another driverless Uber taxi in North London was arrested and charged with lewd conduct after offering to let a 19-year-old woman off her fare if she agreed to fondle its gear lever.