A Waymo self-driving taxi killed a dog in San Francisco, reigniting a heated debate over the safety of self-driving vehicles just weeks after one killed a popular neighborhood cat.
On Sunday, around 8 p.m., a Waymo passenger vehicle struck a small, off-leash dog in San Francisco's Western Addition neighborhood, the company confirmed.
The dog's condition is unknown.
The incident occurred near the intersection of Scott and Eddy streets and drew a small crowd, according to social media posts.
A person who identified himself as one of the passengers wrote about the incident on Reddit.
“Our Waymo just hit a dog,” said the passenger wrote. “The children saw everything.”
The passenger described the dog as weighing 20 to 30 pounds and wrote that the family was returning home from a holiday tree lighting event. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has recorded that Waymo taxis have been involved in at least 14 animal collisions since 2021.
The San Francisco Department of Animal Care and Control said it received a report of the incident Monday morning. Waymo confirmed the collision on Monday and said it had contacted the passenger to check on his condition.
“Unfortunately, a Waymo vehicle collided with a small, leashed dog in the roadway,” a company spokesperson said. “We are committed to learning from this situation and how we represent our community as we continue to improve road safety in the cities we serve.”
The spokesperson added that Waymo vehicles have a much lower rate of collisions resulting in injuries than human drivers. According to Waymo safety data, Waymo vehicles were involved in 91% fewer crashes that resulted in serious or worse injuries compared to human drivers driving the same distance in the same cities.
Every year, human drivers encounter millions of animals while driving.
“I'm not sure a human driver would have avoided a dog either, although I know a human would have reacted differently to a 'bump' followed by a car full of screaming people,” a Waymo passenger wrote on Reddit.
One person who commented discussion said Waymo vehicles must be held to higher standards than human drivers because autonomous taxis are supposed to improve road safety.
“The whole point is that Waymo should not make these mistakes,” the person wrote on Reddit.
Some San Francisco residents still in mourning the death of KitKat, the beloved corner store cat who roamed the Mission District. KitKat was hit and killed by a Waymo car in October after walking under the self-driving car.
Two witnesses who spoke to the news outlet Local Mission said they saw KitKat sitting in front of the stopped car for about seven seconds before walking underneath it as the car pulled away.
KitKat's death sparked demonstrations against Waymo and prompted San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder to call California legislators allow residents to vote on whether self-driving cars can operate in their neighborhoods.
“The human driver could be held accountable,” Fielder said. Chronicle of San Francisco. “There is no one to hold accountable here.”
Waymo is expanding its operations in California and last month announced it would begin offering freeway rides in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix. The company also expanded its Northern California service area to more than 260 square miles.
In Los Angeles, taxis cover a 120-square-mile area and have been operating for more than a year.
Waymo is owned by Google parent company Alphabet and is a key player in the emerging autonomous vehicle field, which also includes Amazon taxi service Zoox and Tesla robotaxis.
Zoox recently started offering unpaid trips without a driver in San Francisco amid growing sentiment against driverless vehicles in the city. Still, many residents support the autonomy effort and believe it will lead to safer streets.
