A person jumped on the hood of a Waymo driverless taxi and smashed its windshield in San Francisco’s Chinatown last night around 9PM PT, generating applause before a crowd formed around the car and covered it in spray paint, breaking its windows, and ultimately set it on fire. The fire department arrived minutes later, according to a report in The Autopian, but by then flames had already fully engulfed the car.
At the moment, no outlets seem to have reported a motive for the attack. Waymo representative Sandy Karp told The Verge via email that the fully autonomous car “was not transporting any riders” when it was attacked and fireworks were tossed inside the car, sparking the flames. Public Information Officer Robert Rueca of San Francisco’s police department confirmed in an email to The Verge that police responded at “approximately” 8:50PM PT to find the car already on fire, adding that there were “no reports of injuries.”
A video posted by the FriscoLive415 YouTube channel shows the burnt-out husk of the electric Waymo Jaguar.
@allenmichie I think it’s a lot like the Luddites, looks like there’s been a lot of tension there over these cars.
The luddites were not protesting technology. They were protesting their labor being squeezed. That the factory owners, thanks to new technology, were going to be able to pay less and keep more. It was a labor movement.
The looms were the symbol, not the problem.
The luddites were, of course, crushed with great violence. Then all their predictions of the future came true. They were almost beyond all doubt right.
Driverless cars… the threat may be similar but the scale is tiny in comparison. I think these protests are actually about the technology, not how it affects labor. It’s about these cars being seen as dangerous threats on the streets.
I only wish that ire were turned toward their city managers office instead of the cars. If people want safe streets, they aren’t going to get them targeting driverless taxis. They have to go after all the fundamentally unsafe auto oriented design.