Waymo driverless taxi strikes bicyclist in San Francisco

A Waymo driverless taxi struck a bicyclist in San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon, according to police and Waymo.

Around 3:02 p.m., officers were dispatched to the area of 17th and Mississippi streets after the crash was reported. The bicyclist suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

A spokesperson with the San Francisco Fire Department said the bicyclist did not request to be transported to a local trauma center and paramedics agreed with the person’s decision that the injuries were not serious enough to warrant a hospital visit.

It was unclear how many people were passengers in the autonomous vehicle at the time of the crash, but police said none of the occupants reported injuries. The cause of the collision is under investigation.

In a statement to the Chronicle, Waymo said the collision was the result of a large truck obstructing the bicyclist from the driverless taxi’s view.

“The Waymo vehicle was at a complete stop at a four-way intersection,” the company said. “An oncoming large truck progressed through the intersection in our direction and then, at our turn to proceed, we moved into the intersection. The cyclist was occluded by the truck and quickly followed behind it, crossing into the Waymo vehicle’s path. When they became unoccluded, our vehicle applied heavy braking but was not able to avoid the collision. Waymo notified the police to the scene and the cyclist left on their own, to our knowledge reporting only minor scratches. We are making contact with relevant authorities surrounding this event.”

In a social media post, San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton said a Waymo driverless taxi had hit the cyclist. “So much for safety,” Walton added. In a phone interview with the Chronicle, Walton said driverless taxis will never be completely safe.

“They (driverless taxis) don’t have the ability to maneuver in situations (of) crisis,” he said. “I’ve seen several studies that claims they’re safer than cars with human drivers. If you’re going to have a vehicle that is not operated by a human being but artificial intelligence, if it is not 100% safe it should not be on the road period.”

Walton said he defines 100% safe as “no accidents ever.”

“If you’re going to create something artificial and put it on our roads, it needs to work 100% better than human beings, and that’s not the case,” he said.

Driverless taxi operations in San Francisco have been under fire after several incidents involving Waymo and Cruise vehicles. Cruise halted all driverless taxi trips after the fallout from the Oct. 2 crash that led the Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend its operations in California.