San Francisco Waymo arson sparks fresh debate on self-driving cars

Saturday’s destruction of the vehicle from Waymo, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, followed an incident last week in which another Waymo car struck a bicyclist. — Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO: A seasoned San Francisco cab driver might have avoided the intersection of Jackson Street and Grant Avenue, in the heart of the city's Chinatown on the first day of Chinese New Year.

An autonomous Waymo robotaxi, by contrast, drove toward the cross streets on Saturday evening, when crowds were blocking all sides and revelers were lighting fireworks, according to two witnesses. Minutes later, some in the crowd attacked the car and set it on fire.