San Francisco residents have seemingly had enough of driverless cars pottering around their city after a mob recently set fire to a self-driving Waymo taxi in Chinatown.
Several videos of the incident were posted to social media, which show a man bashing a skateboard into the white Jaguar I-Pace’s windscreen, followed by a crowd of people graffitiing the vehicle.
The side windows were subsequently smashed and another member of the group set the car alight with a firework, to which it quickly became fully engulfed in flames.
According to Reuters, this is the most destructive attack on a driverless car in the United States so far, and there were thankfully no passengers in the vehicle when it happened.
There’s no indication whether the incident was premeditated or simply a senseless act of vandalism.
“We are working closely with local safety officials to respond to the situation,” Waymo told Reuters.
It was just last week when another self-driving taxi, also operated by Waymo, collided with a cyclist in San Franciso causing minor injuries. The incident resulted in an ongoing regulatory review by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
Another driverless taxi tussle made headlines in August last year after about ten self-driving cars belonging to General Motors-owned Cruise caused a massive traffic jam in the city’s North Beach suburb.
A driverless taxi service has yet to be introduced to New Zealand, and it looks like we’re a long way off from seeing them on our roads any time soon.
According to the Ministry of Transport, autonomous vehicles (AVs) were not a consideration when the current transport legislation was originally drawn up, and work to amend it is still needed.
“We are working to identify the regulatory changes needed to ensure the safe introduction of AVs on New Zealand’s public roads,” the Ministry states.
