Waymo strikes dog in San Francisco weeks after killing KitKat the cat

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

Around 8 p.m. Sunday in San Francisco’s Western Addition neighborhood, a Waymo carrying passengers ran over a small, unleashed dog, the company confirmed.

The dog’s condition is unknown.

The incident happened near the intersection of Scott and Eddy streets and attracted a small crowd, according to social media posts.

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

“Our Waymo just ran over a dog,” the passenger wrote. “The children saw everything.”

The passenger described the dog weighing between 20 and 30 pounds and wrote that his family was returning home from a Christmas tree lighting event. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has recorded Waymo taxis as being involved in at least 14 animal collisions since 2021.

The San Francisco Department of Animal Care and Control said it received a report of the accident Monday morning. Waymo confirmed the collision Monday and said it contacted the passenger to check on his condition.

“Unfortunately, a Waymo vehicle came into contact with a small dog unleashed on the roadway,” a company spokesperson said. “We are committed to learning from this situation and determining how we relate to our community as we continue to improve road safety in the cities we serve. »

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

Human drivers encounter millions of animals while driving each year.

“I’m also not sure a human driver would have avoided the dog, although I know a human would have reacted differently to a ‘bump’ followed by a car full of screaming people,” the Waymo passenger wrote on Reddit.

One person who commented on the discussion said Waymo vehicles should be held to higher standards than human drivers because self-driving taxis are expected to improve road safety.

“The whole point is that Waymo isn’t supposed to make these mistakes,” the person wrote on Reddit.

Some San Francisco residents are still mourning the death of KitKat, a beloved convenience store cat who roamed the Mission District neighborhood. KitKat was run over and killed by a Waymo in October after walking under the driverless vehicle.

Two witnesses who spoke to media outlet Mission Local said they saw KitKat sitting in front of the stopped vehicle for about seven seconds before walking under it as the vehicle drove away.

KitKat’s death sparked protests against Waymo and prompted San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder to urge California lawmakers to allow residents to vote on whether self-driving cars can drive through their neighborhood.

“A human driver can be held responsible,” Fielder told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Here, there is no one to hold people accountable.”

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

In Los Angeles, the taxis cover a 120-square-mile area and have been operating for more than a year.

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

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