Paramedics have been told to watch out for driverless cars driving off after accidents.

Guidance for emergency workers says they should keep a door open when working on a driverless vehicle because this will stop it self-driving away.

The document, released by Waymo, the self-driving car project spun out of Google, advises them to open a door of the vehicle “to prevent the vehicle from self driving” when responding to an accident.

The car will also not drive away if an airbag is deployed, it is in “park” mode, or the handbrake is on.

Emergency workers are then advised to call a special hotline set up by the company to disable the self-drive and convert the car into manual mode.

Workers may also have to cut a power supply cable in order to disable the car’s battery, which involves working at the front of the vehicle.

“Keep at least one door open while in front of vehicle to prevent vehicle from self driving. Also use standard precautions including wheel chocks,” the guidance says.

If a car is pulled over by police, the technology means it will behave like a law-abiding human driver, the company said.

The cars are programmed to detect sirens on police cars or other emergency vehicles and give way to them, the document says.