The individuals of San Francisco haven’t all the time been form to Waymo’s growing fleet of driverless taxis. The autonomous automobiles, which offer tens of 1000’s of rides every week, have been torched, stomped on, and verbally berated in latest months. Now Waymo is putting again—within the courts.
This month, the Silicon Valley firm filed a pair of lawsuits, neither of which have been beforehand reported, that demand a whole bunch of 1000’s of {dollars} in damages from two alleged vandals. Waymo attorneys mentioned in court docket papers that the alleged vandalism, which ruined dozens of tires and a tail finish, are a big menace to the corporate’s fame. Driving in a car by which the steering wheel swivels by itself will be scary sufficient. Having to fret about attackers allegedly focusing on the rides may undermine Waymo’s ride-hailing enterprise earlier than it even will get previous its earliest stage.
Waymo, which falls underneath the umbrella of Google mother or father Alphabet, operates a ride-hailing service in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles that’s comparable to Uber and Lyft besides with sensors and software program controlling the driving. Whereas its automobiles haven’t contributed to any identified lethal crashes, US regulators proceed to probe their sometimes erratic driving. Waymo spokesperson Sandy Karp says the corporate all the time prioritizes security and that the lawsuits mirror that technique. She declined additional remark for this story.
In a submitting final week within the California Superior Court docket of San Francisco County, Waymo sued a Tesla Mannequin 3 driver whom it alleges deliberately rear-ended one in every of its autonomous Jaguar crossovers. In line with the swimsuit, the driving force, Konstantine Nikka-Sher Piterman, claimed in a submit on X that “Waymo simply rekt me” earlier than occurring to ask Tesla CEO Elon Musk for a job. The opposite lawsuit from this month, filed in the identical court docket, targets Ronaile Burton, who allegedly slashed the tires of no less than 19 Waymo automobiles. San Francisco prosecutors have filed legal fees in opposition to her to which she has pleaded not responsible. A listening to is scheduled for Tuesday.
Burton’s public defender, Adam Birka-White, says in a press release that Burton “is somebody in want of assist and never jail” and that prosecutors proceed “to prioritize punishing poor individuals on the behest of firms, on this case involving a tech firm that’s underneath federal investigation for creating harmful circumstances on our streets.”
An legal professional for Burton within the civil case hasn’t been named in court docket data, and Burton is presently in jail and couldn’t be reached for remark. Piterman didn’t reply to a voicemail, a LinkedIn message, and emails searching for remark. He hasn’t responded in court docket to the accusations.
Primarily based on accessible data from courts in San Francisco and Phoenix, it seems that Waymo hasn’t beforehand filed related lawsuits.
Within the Tesla case, Piterman “unlawfully, maliciously, and deliberately” sped his automotive previous a cease signal and right into a Waymo automotive in San Francisco on March 19, based on the corporate’s swimsuit. When the Waymo tried to tug over, Piterman allegedly drove the Tesla into the Waymo automotive once more. He then allegedly entered the Waymo and later threatened a Waymo consultant who responded to the scene in particular person. San Francisco police cited Piterman, based on the lawsuit. The police didn’t reply to WIRED’s request for remark.
