Skateboarders vandalize Google self-driving car in San Francisco

A large group of rowdy skateboarders in San Francisco mobbed a Google-owned Waymo self-driving vehicle on Saturday night.

Video posted to Reddit shows several people jump on the car and spray-painting graffiti on it. Several were seen dancing on the car and one person sat on the large sensor atop the roof.

The vehicle was not autonomous at the time of the incident, according to Motherboard.

A Waymo spokesperson said the car was being operated by a driver who managed to safely get out of the vandalized car before it was swarmed.

“At approximately 10 pm on July 9, one of our cars operating in manual mode in San Francisco was surrounded by individuals who jumped onto the hood, roof and the trunk of the car and vandalized the vehicle with spray paint,” a Waymo spokesperson told Motherboard.

“The autonomous specialist was eventually able to direct the car safely out of the crowd and remove themselves from the situation. We are in close communication with the San Francisco Police Department as they actively investigate this incident.”

The incident took place in the city’s Mission District, where hundreds of skateboarders gathered for the annual Dolores Hill Bomb.

The event involves skateboarders gathering and riding down a steep hill. Afterwards, they hold rowdy celebrations.

It is unlikely that the skateboarders targeted the car due to its affiliation with Waymo, according to the report. Most likely, the driver stumbled upon the event by chance.

In March, Waymo started offering driverless rides to employees in San Francisco, accelerating a race with General Motors-backed rival Cruise to commercialize the technology in the dense city.

Waymo also introduced autonomous rides to employees in downtown Phoenix with safety drivers behind the wheel, with a goal to open it to public testing.

“Operating fully autonomously in multiple markets — in addition to Waymo’s growing trucking operations — is a critical validator of the scalability of Waymo’s operations and technology,” it said in a statement.

A self-driving technology pioneer, Waymo started the first US driverless taxi service in 2020, over a decade after it was born in 2009 as a project inside Google.

While it gives paid rides to hundreds of people a week using Chrysler minivans, Waymo’s service has not expanded beyond suburban Phoenix areas that cover about 50 square miles.

Cruise already is giving fully driverless rides to employees and members of the public free of charge in San Francisco. The company is seeking CPUC approval for commercial driverless service, with a goal to get permitted this year.

With Post wires