May 9, 2026Single source
Waymo robotaxi stayed stopped while vandals smashed it with a passenger inside, San Francisco
AI loose in the worldPhysical safetyDERIVED
Approved by person, Oct 11, 2026. How entries are approved
On May 9, 2026, two men reportedly stopped and vandalized a Waymo robotaxi carrying passenger Sherman Watson in San Francisco. The vehicle reportedly stayed immobilized, and remote support declined his request to move it. Watson reported a possible glass cut, sought therapy, and said he feared he would be killed.
What this means for youSelf-driving cars can leave a passenger stuck in a dangerous situation if the vehicle stays put and remote staff decline to move it. If you ride in a robotaxi, learn how to contact the company's support and emergency help from inside the vehicle.
Sources
- AI Incident Databasehttps://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/1599
Data from the AI Incident Database (incidentdatabase.ai), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). McGregor, S. (2021) Preventing Repeated Real World AI Failures by Cataloging Incidents: The AI Incident Database. IAAI-21.
Source data license: CC BY-SA 4.0 (database). Report contents keep their own rights; reports.text, submissions, images and videos are excluded from the data license.
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