A self-driving Waymo taxi hit a dog in San Francisco, reigniting a heated debate over autonomous vehicle safety just weeks after one killed a popular neighborhood cat.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, around 8 p.m. in San Francisco\u2019s Western Addition neighborhood, a Waymo carrying passengers ran over a small, unleashed dog, the company confirmed. <\/p>\n
The dog\u2019s condition is unknown. <\/p>\n
The incident occurred near the intersection of Scott and Eddy streets and drew a small crowd, according to social media posts. <\/p>\n
A person claiming to be one of the passengers posted about the accident on Reddit. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur Waymo just ran over a dog,\u201d the passenger wrote<\/a>. \u201cKids saw the whole thing.\u201d <\/p>\n The passenger described the dog as between 20 and 30 pounds and wrote that their family was traveling back home after a holiday tree lighting event. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has recorded Waymo taxis being involved in at least 14 animal collisions since 2021. <\/p>\n The San Francisco Animal Care and Control department said they received a report about the accident on Monday morning. Waymo confirmed the collision on Monday and said they had contacted the passenger to check on them. <\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, a Waymo vehicle made contact with a small, unleashed dog in the roadway,\u201d a company spokesperson said. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The spokesperson added that Waymo vehicles have a much lower rate of injury-causing collisions than human drivers. <\/p>\n Human drivers run into millions of animals while driving each year. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure a human driver would have avoided the dog either, though I do know that a human would have responded differently to a \u2018bump\u2019 followed by a car full of screaming people,\u201d the Waymo passenger wrote on Reddit. <\/p>\n One person who commented on the discussion<\/a> said that Waymo vehicles should be held to a higher standard than human drivers, because the autonomous taxis are supposed to improve road safety. <\/p>\n \u201cThe whole point of this is because Waymo isn\u2019t supposed to make those mistakes,\u201d the person wrote on Reddit. <\/p>\n Some San Francisco residents are still mourning<\/a> the death of KitKat, a beloved corner bodega cat who roamed the Mission District neighborhood. KitKat was run over and killed by a Waymo in October after walking under the driverless vehicle. <\/p>\n Two witnesses who spoke to the news outlet Mission Local<\/a> said they saw KitKat sitting in front of the stopped vehicle for around seven seconds before walking underneath as the vehicle pulled away. <\/p>\n KitKat\u2019s death sparked demonstrations against Waymo and prompted San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder to urge the California legislature<\/a> to allow residents to vote on whether autonomous cars can operate in their neighborhoods.<\/p>\n \u201cA human driver can be held accountable,\u201d Fielder told the San Francisco Chronicle<\/a>. \u201cHere, there is no one to hold accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n Waymo is expanding in California, and announced earlier this month that it would begin offering rides on freeways in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix. The company also expanded its service area in Northern California to more than 260 square miles. <\/p>\n In Los Angeles, the taxis roam a 120-square-mile area and have been operating for more than a year. <\/p>\n Waymo is owned by Google\u2019s parent company Alphabet and is a key player in the emerging field of driverless vehicles, which also includes Amazon\u2019s taxi service Zoox and Tesla\u2019s robotaxi. <\/p>\n Zoox recently began offering unpaid driverless rides<\/a> in San Francisco amid growing sentiment against autonomous vehicles in the city. Still, many residents support the autonomous efforts and believe they will lead to safer streets. <\/p>\n