The hatred of Waymo has risen, the police had to intervene on various occasions. It was about threats, harassment and property damage.
Apparently, the autonomous future of the future is not well with everyone, because there were various attacks on the vehicles of Waymo One.
Waymo One is the world’s first robotic taxi service in the world and is on the December 5, 2018 in the US state of Arizona. Even before that, the vehicles have because of their restrained driving unpopular made. The first tests of magazines are also already through the press went. But the hate of some people, is not only lived on the Internet, it is also directed against the Waymo vehicles.
As early as March, was in California by a Report of the DMV, the California Transport Authority, announced that there are people aggressively turning against automated vehicles. The cars and their passengers were shouted and the cars were kicked.
Since Waymo’s on the street, Arizona police have received dozens of phone calls. It was about attacks on Waymo vehicles. In 21 known incidents, the on-board personnel were harassed by Waymo. In addition, other travelers were yelling at Waymo’s cars. But verbal attacks did not stop there, there were even stone chips on the cars or the tires were cut. In one case, a person was threatened with a pistol aboard a Waymo vehicle.
Waymo has responded and wants to work continuously with the communities, which implies both law enforcement and emergency care. The security personnel on board the vehicles is trained and should call the police in such situations.
The motivation of the attackers has not yet been explored. But in most cases, people were drunk. The person with the weapon suffered from dementia. Incredible that such a person may even carry a weapon, I think. According to researcher Phil Simon, the anger comes from Waymo’s commitment to replace people with robotics and reduce jobs.
About David Flora
I’ve been writing about the topic of Autonomous & Connected Driving since 2011 and also talk about it on other sites like the Smart Mobility Hub. I studied social sciences at the HU Berlin and since 2012 I am a freelance journalist. Contact: mail@autonomes-fahren.de