Waymo hits a dog
The number of animals struck rises to at least 14
A Waymo vehicle, Google’s (Alphabet’s) autonomous taxi service, seems to have struck a small dog in San Francisco, weeks after one of its taxis killed a cat. The dog’s condition is unknown. A passenger on the ride recounted hearing yelping and seeing a crowd gather. The rider contacted customer support and the police.
The latest incident has intensified scrutiny over the safety and accountability of autonomous vehicles. According to publicly available data, Waymo cars have been involved in at least 14 animal collisions since mid-2021, resulting in five animal deaths. Critics argue that these incidents highlight a lack of accountability.
In a letter, The No Kill Advocacy “requested legislation requiring autonomous vehicles to give cats and other small animals a ‘brake.’” As we explained,
The technology already exists; it just hasn’t been used.
As a 2022 study, “AI ethics: the case for including animals,” determined, self-driving technologies can “substantially reduce animal deaths and injuries on the road,” but “this will not happen unless the designers of these systems choose to make it happen.” The authors of the study reviewing such technology found that carmakers have chosen not to do so when it involves small animals, such as cats, raccoons, and squirrels, millions of which are killed by cars each year.
Currently, the only animals that are inadvertently protected are those that are “large enough for a collision to cause serious damage to the car and perhaps its occupants (for example, moose).” In other words, these systems are only designed to protect cars and their occupants, not animals. They should. And state law should demand it.
Do you believe in second chances? Millions of animals are betting their lives on it. Donate to The No Kill Advocacy Center this holiday season and give the animals still at risk the greatest gifts of all: life, love, home, and family.