San Francisco residents haven’t always been kind to Waymo’s growing fleet of driverless taxis, which deliver tens of thousands of rides a week. burn, Stepped onand reprimand verbally In recent months, Waymo is now fighting back. In court.
This month, the Silicon Valley company filed two previously unreported lawsuits, seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages from two alleged vandals. Waymo lawyers said in court documents that the alleged vandalism, which damaged dozens of tires and a tailpipe, was a significant threat to the company’s reputation. Riding in a car that turns its own steering wheel is scary enough. The fear that attackers could target your ride could undermine Waymo’s ride-sharing business before it even gets beyond its early stages.
Waymo, a subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, operates a ride-sharing service similar to Uber and Lyft in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles, but uses sensors and software to control the driving. While Waymo’s vehicles have not been involved in any known fatal accidents, U.S. regulators continue to investigate occasional erratic driving. Waymo spokeswoman Sandy Karp said the company always puts safety first and the lawsuit reflects that strategy. She declined to comment further for this article.
In a lawsuit filed last week in California Superior Court in San Francisco County, Waymo alleges that a Tesla Model 3 driver intentionally rammed the rear of a self-driving Jaguar crossover. According to the lawsuit, the driver, Konstantine Nikka-Sher Piterman, asked Tesla CEO Elon Musk for his job after posting on X that “Waymo just pissed me off.” Another lawsuit filed this month in the same court is against Ronaile Burton, who is accused of slashing the tires of at least 19 Waymo vehicles. San Francisco prosecutors have filed criminal charges against her, and she has pleaded not guilty. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Adam Burka-White, Burton’s public defender, said in a statement that Burton “needs help, not prison” and that prosecutors “continue to prioritize punishing the poor at the behest of corporations, and this case involves a tech company that is under federal investigation for allegedly creating dangerous conditions on our streets.”
In the civil suit, Burton’s attorney is not named in court records, and Burton is currently in jail and could not be reached for comment. Piterman did not respond to voicemails, LinkedIn messages and emails seeking comment. He did not respond to the complaint in court.
Waymo does not appear to have filed similar lawsuits before, according to court records in San Francisco and Phoenix.
In the Tesla incident, Piterman “unlawfully, maliciously, and intentionally” drove his car through a stop sign in San Francisco and struck a Waymo vehicle. March 19thAccording to the company’s lawsuit, when Waymo tried to pull over, Piterman allegedly drove his Tesla back into the Waymo vehicle. He then got into the Waymo and threatened Waymo representatives who later responded to the scene, according to the lawsuit. San Francisco police cited Piterman. Police did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
