Waymo attacked a dog in San Francisco just weeks after killing KitKat the cat

A self-driving Waymo taxi hit a dog in San Francisco, sparking a heated debate about the safety of autonomous vehicles just weeks after it killed a popular neighborhood cat.

On Sunday, around 8 p.m. in San Francisco’s West Add neighborhood, a Waymo carrying passengers ran over a small, loose dog, the company confirmed.

The dog’s condition is unknown.

The event took place near the intersection of Scott and Eddy streets and, according to social media posts, drew a small crowd.

A person claiming to be one of the passengers posted about the crash on Reddit.

“Our Waymo just ran into a dog,” the passenger wrote. “The kids saw the whole thing.”

The passenger described the dog as 20 to 30 pounds and wrote that the family was returning home after a holiday tree lighting incident. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has recorded Waymo Taxis being involved in at least 14 animal collisions since 2021.

The San Francisco Department of Animal Control and Prevention said they received a report of the incident Monday morning. Waymo confirmed the collision on Monday and said it had contacted the passenger to look into it.

“Unfortunately, a Waymo vehicle made contact with a small dog on the road,” a company spokesperson said. “We are committed to learning from this situation and how we show up to our community as we continue to improve road safety in cities.”

The spokesman added that Waymo vehicles have a much lower rate of injury-related crashes than human drivers. According to Waymo’s safety data, Waymo vehicles were involved in 91% fewer crashes that resulted in serious injuries or worse than human drivers over the same distance in the same cities.

Human drivers run over millions of animals each year while driving.

“I’m not sure a human driver would have avoided the dog either, although I know a human would have responded differently to a ‘crash’ with a car full of screaming people,” a Waymo passenger wrote on Reddit.

One person commenting on the debate said Waymo’s cars should be held to a higher standard than human drivers, as autonomous taxis improve road safety.

“The whole point of this is that Waymo shouldn’t make these mistakes,” the person wrote on Reddit.

Some San Francisco residents are still mourning the death of Kit Kat, a beloved corner store cat who roamed the Mission District neighborhood. KitKat was kidnapped and killed by Vimo in October after being run over by a driverless car.

Two eyewitnesses who spoke to the Mission Regional News Agency said they saw KitKat sitting in front of the parked car for about seven seconds before the car took off.

KitKat’s death sparked protests against Waymo and prompted San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder to ask California lawmakers to allow residents to vote on whether autonomous cars can operate in their neighborhoods.

“A human operator can be an accountant,” Fielder told the San Francisco Chronicle. “There is no one to be held accountable.”

Waymo is expanding in California, and last month announced it would begin offering free rides on routes in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix. The company expanded its service area to more than 260 square miles in Northern California.

In Los Angeles, taxis cover an area of ​​120 square miles and operate for more than a year.

Waymo is owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet and is a key player in the emerging field of driverless cars, which also includes Amazon’s taxi service Zox and Tesla’s Robotaxi.

Zoox recently started offering paid driverless rides in San Francisco amid growing sentiment against autonomous vehicles in the city. Still, many residents support independent efforts and believe they will lead to safer streets.