Jakarta –
A driverless car or robotaxi from Waymo was burned by the masses. Crowds of people in San Francisco’s Chinatown surrounded a Waymo robotaxi on Saturday night. The crowd broke windows, threw fireworks into the car, causing the car to catch fire.
The San Francisco Standard reported that the incident occurred on Jackson Street near Grant Avenue. Waymo said the driverless autonomous vehicle was not carrying passengers at the time of the incident and no injuries were reported.
It is not yet clear why the crowd damaged the robotaxi. The San Francisco Police Department said authorities were investigating the incident.
Videos circulating on social media show crowds of people surrounding the car and scribbling graffiti. There were also people who hit the front passenger window and windshield with skateboards until the glass broke.
Furthermore, there were also people who threw fireworks into the car, causing the car to catch fire. The fire quickly engulfed the car and destroyed it.
“We are working with local safety officials to respond to this situation,” Waymo said in a statement.
Waymo said the vehicle had just dropped off its passengers and was heading to its next destination when the incident occurred. Firefighters came to the scene and extinguished the fire.
Reportedly, on that day various celebrations were held throughout Chinatown to kick off the Chinese New Year. Supervisor Aaron Peskin, whose district includes Chinatown and North Beach, said there were thousands of people there at the time.
“On the street, it was so crowded that we couldn’t get through the crowd (to other events). How this led to graffiti and trampling of autonomous vehicles and arson I don’t know. But I’ve never seen Chinatown this busy,” he said.
Watch the video “View of rows of autonomous cars being tested in China”
(rgr/dry)
2024-02-13 13:05:58
#Driverless #Car #Rammed #Crowd
