San Francisco crowd destroys Waymo self-driving car

A Waymo self-driving car was destroyed in San Francisco. The incident occurred in Chinatown on February 11, reports The Verge.

The incident occurred in the evening, when a man jumped on the hood of an unmanned taxi and broke the windshield. After that, the crowd surrounded the car, poured paint on it, broke the windows, and eventually set it on fire.

According to The Autopian, the fire department arrived at the scene within minutes. But by then, the flames had already completely engulfed the Waymo car.

A company representative said that the car was not carrying anyone at the time of the incident. It was also clarified that the fire was triggered by fireworks that were thrown inside the car.

At the same time, the San Francisco Police Department confirmed that the car was already on fire when police arrived. There were no reports of injuries.

On some videos that were posted on the Internet, you can see how the events of that evening unfolded.

The situation occurred after an accident involving a Cruise self-driving car. Last year, an incident occurred in San Francisco when a human-driven car hit a woman and fled the scene. After that, the Cruise robot taxi also ran over the victim and dragged her a few meters behind it. After that, the California authorities revoked Cruise’s license.

Recently, General Motors announced its intention to cut costs for the Cruise robotaxi division by about $1 billion in 2024. Nevertheless, the company remains committed to the self-driving project and will “refocus and relaunch Cruise.”