A San Francisco crowd torched a Waymo robo-taxi on Saturday night time, the native fireplace division stated, amid ongoing distrust of driverless expertise within the metropolis.
The car was “surrounded after which graffiti’d, home windows have been damaged, and firework lit on fireplace contained in the car,” a publish on X by the San Francisco Fireplace Division stated. It was diminished to an ashen shell.
Waymo Car surrounded after which graffiti’d, home windows have been damaged, and firework lit on fireplace contained in the car which in the end caught the complete car on fireplace. #SFFD
Photographs by Séraphine Hossenlopp pic.twitter.com/aOTqL3Rk8V— SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) February 11, 2024
Footage shared by an onlooker, Michael Vandi, on X reveals a crowd surrounding the car throughout Lunar New 12 months celebrations in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
One member of the group will be heard shouting, “Mild that shit on fireplace!”
Movies from native information retailers, additionally shared on X, present the stays of the car as firefighters douse it in water.
There have been no individuals within the car, and no person was injured, the Los Angeles Occasions reported, citing police.
The fireplace is being investigated, the outlet stated.
Waymo spokesperson Sandy Karp confirmed the details of the incident and instructed BI the corporate is “working intently with native security officers to reply to the scenario.”‘
The motive for the assault on the robo-car is unclear, however autonomous-car corporations have come beneath heightened scrutiny because the expertise has unfold in San Francisco’s streets.
Waymo started trialing driverless taxis in 2022 beneath varied restrictions in San Francisco.
But it surely’s had teething issues — a Wired investigation in April gathered appreciable dashcam footage exhibiting Waymo automobiles cluttering roads and blocking public-transport automobiles.
In Could, police have been flummoxed by a Waymo taxi that drove into the scene of a hearth and nearly ran over a fireplace hose.
Nonetheless, driverless-taxi corporations have been given the inexperienced gentle in August to launch expanded providers within the metropolis.
The transfer unleashed chaos on the roads nearly instantly.
Cruise, majority-owned by Common Motors, rapidly halved its fleet after a spate of accidents and visitors jams, and by October — after a lady was pinned beneath one among its vehicles — town had revoked its permits.
Waymo, owned by Alphabet, has stated that its autonomous automobiles are “considerably” safer than these pushed by people, pointing to a 2023 research primarily based on information it shared with the insurance coverage firm Swiss Re.
