Video. Residents revolted against robotaxis: an autonomous vehicle vandalized and set fire to the middle of the street

A scene of rebellion. This Saturday, February 10, when a large number of people were celebrating the Lunar New Year, a mob of individuals attacked a robotaxi roaming the streets of San Francisco in the United States. The incident, though very violent, fortunately resulted in no casualties, reports said Huffington Post.

More fear than harm

The images of this act of vandalism are impressive. We see the vehicle completely destroyed, then set on fire in the middle of the street.

“A fully autonomous Waymo vehicle was driving through San Francisco when a mob surrounded and vandalized the vehicle, breaking windows and throwing fireworks inside, which set the vehicle on fire”A spokesperson for Google’s autonomous car-developing brand hinted, as quoted by Le Figaro.

Fortunately, there were no passengers in the vehicle at the time of the incident.

A rebellion

But why did these men attack this car so violently? The arrival of these autonomous taxis was not unanimous among the city’s population, which is a pioneer in the field.

@numerama I took an autonomous taxi with no one inside and I freaked out #waymo#taxiautonome #numerama #tech #sanfrancisco ♬ original sound – numerama

Some incidents have raised the ire of these residents, such as a cyclist struck earlier in the month or a woman dragged several meters by a robotaxy. This will also be responsible for numerous traffic jams on the road network.

As a protest, last summer, opponents of these vehicles enjoyed placing cones on the hood to paralyze them, explains HuffPost. But this weekend’s actions seem like a coup.