Waymo hits a dog in San Francisco, reigniting safety debate

A self-driving Waymo taxi deed a canine successful San Francisco, reigniting a heated statement implicit autonomous conveyance information conscionable weeks aft 1 killed a fashionable vicinity cat.

On Sunday, astir 8 p.m. successful San Francisco’s Western Addition neighborhood, a Waymo carrying passengers ran implicit a small, unleashed dog, the institution confirmed.

The dog’s information is unknown.

The incidental occurred adjacent the intersection of Scott and Eddy streets and drew a tiny crowd, according to societal media posts.

A idiosyncratic claiming to beryllium 1 of the passengers posted astir the mishap connected Reddit.

“Our Waymo conscionable ran implicit a dog,” the rider wrote. “Kids saw the full thing.”

The rider described the canine arsenic betwixt 20 and 30 pounds and wrote that their household was traveling backmost location aft a vacation histrion lighting event. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has recorded Waymo taxis arsenic being progressive successful astatine slightest 14 carnal collisions since 2021.

The San Francisco Animal Care and Control section said it received a study astir the mishap Monday morning. Waymo confirmed the collision Monday and said it had contacted the rider to cheque connected them.

“Unfortunately, a Waymo conveyance made interaction with a small, unleashed canine successful the roadway,” a institution spokesperson said. “We are dedicated to learning from this concern and however we amusement up for our assemblage arsenic we proceed improving roadworthy information successful the cities we serve.”

The spokesperson added that Waymo vehicles person a overmuch little complaint of injury-causing collisions than quality drivers. According to Waymo’s information data, Waymo vehicles were progressive successful 91% less crashes that caused superior injuries oregon worse erstwhile compared to quality drivers implicit the aforesaid region successful the aforesaid cities.

Human drivers tally into millions of animals portion driving each year.

“I’m not definite a quality operator would person avoided the canine either, though I bash cognize that a quality would person responded otherwise to a ‘bump’ followed by a car afloat of screaming people,” the Waymo rider wrote connected Reddit.

One idiosyncratic who commented connected the treatment said that Waymo vehicles should beryllium held to a higher modular than quality drivers, due to the fact that the autonomous taxis are expected to amended roadworthy safety.

“The full constituent of this is due to the fact that Waymo isn’t expected to marque those mistakes,” the idiosyncratic wrote connected Reddit.

Some San Francisco residents are inactive mourning the decease of KitKat, a beloved corner-store feline who roamed the Mission District neighborhood. KitKat was tally implicit and killed by a Waymo successful October aft walking nether the driverless vehicle.

Two witnesses who spoke to the quality outlet Mission Local said they saw KitKat sitting successful beforehand of the stopped conveyance for astir 7 seconds earlier walking underneath arsenic the conveyance pulled away.

KitKat’s decease sparked demonstrations against Waymo and prompted San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder to impulse California lawmakers to let residents to ballot connected whether autonomous cars tin run successful their neighborhoods.

“A quality operator tin beryllium held accountable,” Fielder told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Here, determination is nary 1 to clasp accountable.”

Waymo is expanding successful California, and announced past period that it would statesman offering rides connected freeways successful San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix. The institution besides expanded its work country successful Northern California to much than 260 quadrate miles.

In Los Angeles, the taxis roam a 120-square-mile country and person been operating for much than a year.

Waymo is owned by Google’s genitor institution Alphabet and is simply a cardinal subordinate successful the emerging tract of driverless vehicles, which besides includes Amazon’s taxi work Zoox and Tesla’s robotaxi.

Zoox precocious began offering unpaid driverless rides successful San Francisco amid increasing sentiment against autonomous vehicles successful the city. Still, galore residents enactment the autonomous efforts and judge they volition pb to safer streets.