AutonomousHigh
Waymo Robotaxi Reportedly Remained Immobilized While Vandals Smashed Vehicle with Passenger Inside
- Occurred
- May 9, 2026
- Published
- Jul 16, 2026
- Source
- AI Incident Database
Summary
On May 9, 2026, two men reportedly stopped and vandalized a Waymo robotaxi carrying passenger Sherman Watson at Pierce and Lombard streets in San Francisco. The autonomous driving system reportedly remained immobilized after one man grabbed the bumper, and remote support declined Watson's request to move the vehicle while the attackers smashed its windows and climbed on it. Watson reported a possible glass cut, sought therapy, and said he feared he would be killed.
Developers
- Waymo
- Automated driving system developers
Deployers
- Waymo
- Robotaxi operators
- Automated driving system deployers
Harmed parties
- Waymo passengers
- Sherman Watson
- Robotaxi passengers
- Road users
- Passengers
Classification
Category confidence: 95%
Severity confidence: 90%
Rationale: Waymo robotaxi failed to move during vandalism incident, causing passenger fear and injury.
Classifier: Qwen/Qwen3.5-35B-A3B-FP8