Waymo robotaxi attacked and set on fire in San Francisco

On Saturday night, February 10, a crowd of people surrounded and set fire to a Waymo unmanned car in San Francisco's Chinatown district. The incident, caught on video, was the latest in a string of robot taxi confrontations with the public in that city.

Here's What We Know

According to Waymo, there were no passengers in the car at the time of the attack. The crowd smashed the car's window and threw fireworks inside, causing a fire. The company said it is working closely with law enforcement to investigate the incident.

Witnesses to the incident said that the arson attack left the vehicle nothing but a pile of charred remains. Rescuers couldn't even recognise which company the drone belonged to.

Earlier, road safety activists staged protests against the use of robot taxis in San Francisco. In particular, they disabled Cruise and Waymo cars by placing traffic cones on them. There were also recorded cases of citizens physically attacking the unmanned cars.

The new incident shows the growing dissatisfaction of a part of the public with the use of autonomous driving technologies on city streets.

Go Deeper:

• Waymo's drone was involved in an accident with a cyclist in San Francisco
• Opponents of robotaxis in San Francisco have declared war on unmanned cars

Source: TechCrunch