Waymo confirms its car hit dog in Western Addition

On Sunday night at around 8 p.m., a Waymo ran over a small, unleashed dog in Western Addition at Scott and Eddy streets, the company has confirmed.  

The incident was publicized by the passenger, who was riding the autonomous vehicle with their family. “Our Waymo just ran over a dog,” they wrote in r/waymo on Reddit. “Trying to call customer support. Called the police. Crowd is gathering not sure what to do.” (sic)

The autonomous vehicle company confirmed the incident on Monday. It is not clear if the dog is alive. “Unfortunately, a Waymo vehicle made contact with a small, unleashed dog in the roadway. We are dedicated to learning from this situation and how we show up for our community as we continue improving road safety in the cities we serve,” a Waymo spokesperson wrote in a statement. 

In a comment on Reddit, the passenger described the dog as a 20- to 30-pound dog.

“We have not received a status update on the dog,” the Waymo spokesperson wrote to Mission Local.

The incident comes weeks after a Waymo vehicle killed a Mission District bodega cat, KitKat, drawing national media attention and calls for broader scrutiny of driverless vehicles. After the incident, the Mission District’s supervisor, Jackie Fielder, called for state legislators to let voters decide on a county-by-county basis whether they want autonomous vehicles on their streets. 

The passenger who posted about the more recent incident did not respond when asked for comment. An hour after the original post, a moderator for the r/waymo subreddit, posted additional details from the passenger while trying to verify that the incident had occurred. “I was in a Waymo … Next thing I heard was yelping. I didn’t see the dog before the impact, but the kids were screaming about it.” 

A 311 report was filed at around the same time, 8:25 p.m., regarding a Waymo at that intersection. The report does not provide more details about the incident. 

A spokesperson for San Francisco Animal Care and Control confirmed that the same 311 complaint was received by the agency on Monday morning. “Our captain called the reporting party, but there was nothing to follow up on,” the spokesperson said.  

Waymo followed up with the passenger, according to the passenger’s post on Reddit. “They said they are sending team members to the area to look for the owner of the dog and to offer any veterinary or similar services.” 

As of Monday afternoon, the 311 complaint was still open.