A driverless San Francisco Cruise robotaxi came under sustained attack on Sunday night by an unidentified assailant in an act of vandalism all caught on video.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports the savage beatdown occurred in full public view on Buchanan and Haight.
It came as Cruise faces mounting scrutiny over roadway safety concerns and reports claim self-driving cars have caused increased delays, confusion, and anxiety among public transit drivers as companies plan to further expand their fleet.
As Breitbart News previously reported, a Waymo autonomous taxi caused chaos navigating a fire scene in San Francisco last month, exposing the challenges driverless vehicles face in reacting to unusual situations and commands from first responders.
Police officers had to desperately work to stop the driverless vehicle from running over a hose being used by firefighters to put out a fire.
A Cruise autonomous taxi in San Francisco, California, on Thursday Aug. 10, 2023. California regulators are poised to decide whether two rival robotaxi services can provide around-the-clock rides through the area despite escalating fears about recurring incidents that have caused the driverless vehicles to block traffic or imperil public safety. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty)
In this most recent event, Jane Natoli, a Richmond District resident who spotted the battered vehicle on her way home Sunday, told the outlet she saw the graphic vandalism as an escalation of protests against Cruise and other robotaxi companies.
Natoli noted the pedestrian activist movement of placing construction cones around the vehicles – which apparently immobilizes them.
“Obviously this will also do the trick,” said Natoli, who is a local housing advocate and SFO Airport Commissioner. “But it’s much more aggressive and violent.”
According to the report, police said just before 11 p.m., officers responded to the 300 block of Buchanan on a report of a vandalized vehicle.
“When officers arrived on scene, they located an autonomous vehicle in the intersection, which had been vandalized,” a San Francisco police spokesperson said in an emailed statement seen by the outlet. “Officers spoke with a witness, who said that they heard a scream and looked out their window to see the suspect standing in front of the autonomous vehicle. The suspect then began vandalizing the vehicle.”
Police said the person fled before officers arrived on the scene.
Recently, a group of about ten self-driving taxis became stuck in the San Francisco neighborhood of North Beach, causing a traffic jam just one day after regulators voted to allow driverless taxi companies virtual free rein in the city.