A video shows how a Google robotaxi is burned in San Francisco, amid applause from the crowd
What no one wanted to happen has happened. The protests and complaints have ended in violence and destruction. An autonomous car from Waymo, Google’s company, has been destroyed and burned by a violent mobamidst applause from passers-by.
The relationship between San Francisco and driverless cars is complex. It is one of the pioneer cities in allowing this type of vehicle, but a series of accidents have caused rejection by the population, despite the fact that they are much less frequent and less serious than accidents with human drivers.
Protests and complaints on social networks have risen to a new level, with the destruction of a Waymo autonomous car while driving through city streets. Luckily, she had no passengers.
The video with the destruction of the Waymo autonomous car
The events occurred a couple of hours ago, in the Chinatown neighborhood, in San Francisco.
A Waymo robotaxi was driving normally when it stopped in the middle of the street. We do not know if due to a failure, or due to the circulation itself. Immediately he was surrounded by a group of people, who They began to paint on it. You can see the complete sequence in these videos:
Someone began hitting the glass with their fists, and even a skateboard, while being cheered by the crowd. This encouraged the violent, who They ended up destroying it and throwing firecrackers and fireworks inside., according to witnesses. The rockets caused a fire inside the vehicle, which burned completely.
Self-driving cars have been harassed for months in San Francisco, due to a series of accidents with injuries, despite the fact that their accident rate is five times lower than cars with human drivers:
In the face of protests, and a series of continued failures, Cruise, the GM company, withdrew its autonomous cars from San Francisco. But Google’s company, Waymo, has continued to circulate.
Some citizens began placing traffic cones on the hoods of vehicles, to confuse them and force them to stop. Now the protests have escalated, by destroying a Waymo robotaxi.
We will see how Google reacts, whether or not it keeps its autonomous cars circulating around the city.
