LOS ANGELES — The steering wheel began to turn on its own. Sitting in the back seat of a white Jaguar I-PACE operated by Waymo, there was no one in the driver’s seat as the car eased away from the curb and merged into traffic. For a first-time rider, the moment can feel unusual. Within minutes, however, the experience began to feel routine. In parts of Los Angeles, driverless taxis have already blended into everyday traffic. Waymo opened its autonomous ride-hailing service to the public in Los Angeles in November 2024, making the city one of a handful of U.S. cities where passengers can ride in fully driverless taxis. South Korea is also preparing to expand autonomous vehicle services, with Seoul planning to introduce Level-4 robotaxis later this year as part of a broader push to develop artificial intelligence-based transportation. Leading up to that moment, however, can prompt many questions. Without a driver, how exactly does the pickup work? Would the car stop in the right place? And how would it know which passenger to pick up? In a typical ride-hailing pickup, there is usually a