Waymo self-driving car kills a dog in San Francisco

Driverless car’s autonomous system identied dog ‘but was not able to avoid contact’

Empty driver's seat shown in a driverless Chevy Bolt car named Peaches carrying Associated Press reporter Michael Liedtke during a ride in San Francisco in September 2022 (AP)

A Waymo self-driving car killed a small dog in San Francisco in an incident that has raised concerns over the ambitious launch and expansion of driverless cab services in the US.

The car was driving in “autonomous mode” with a human driver in the front seat when the accident occurred at around 11am on Toland Street in San Francisco on 21 May.

According to the incident report filed with the California Department of Motor Vehicles, the self-driving Jaguar I-Pace car was travelling at a low speed near Waymo’s depot when a dog ran onto the street.

An initial review showed that the car’s autonomous system correctly identified the dog as it ran out from behind a parked car “but was not able to avoid contact”, Waymo said in a statement.

“On May 21 in San Francisco, a small dog ran in front of one of our vehicles with an autonomous specialist present in the driver’s seat, and, unfortunately, contact was made,” it said.

“We send our sincere condolences to the dog’s owner. The trust and safety of the communities we are in is the most important thing to us and we’re continuing to look into this on our end,” it said.

The car sustained minor damage, according to the incident report.

The car’s human safety operator or the autonomous system did not put the brakes to avoid the collision as the dog took an “unusual path” and came at “a high rate of speed directly towards the side of the vehicle”, a Waymo spokesperson said, according to TechCrunch.

The incident comes as Waymo, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet, and other rival companies like Cruise are intensifying efforts to expand robotaxi services significantly across the city.

Cruise, operated by General Motors, has obtained authorisation to charge fares to operate driverless taxi rides from 10pm to 6am in most parts of the city, excluding the busiest downtown regions.

But Waymo is permitted to charge fares only when a safety driver is present in their vehicles.

In 2018, an autonomous car operated by Uber’s now-defunct AV unit struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona, marking the first reported human death associated with self-driving car tech.

Last year, a viral video showed traffic police stopping a Cruise autonomous vehicle for driving without headlights. The driverless car swiftly sped away to the opposite side of the road as the police officer attempted to pull it over.

In April this year, at least five Waymo cars blocked traffic after becoming disoriented and coming to a stop due to foggy weather conditions in San Francisco.