Driverless Cruise car attacked by person with hammer
A driverless Cruise taxi was damaged by a hammer-wielding person in San Francisco in a video that went viral on social media.
San Francisco police are reportedly investigating the vandalism of the car that happened on Buchanan Street, near Haight Street, on Sunday night.
A person dressed in black is seen repeatedly striking the car's windshield, cameras and other equipment mounted to the roof that enable the vehicle to drive autonomously.
The suspect, who wore a hood and mask, fled before police arrived, according to reports.
The damaged car was empty when the vandal smashed it up, Cruise told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The number of robotaxis has proliferated on city streets. State officials recently allowed Waymo and Cruise to increase the size of their fleets, expand the hours that they roam city streets and begin charging customers for rides.
But there has been a backlash to the self-driving cars as they have been spotted in numerous instances causing traffic headaches around the city.
Driverless Cruise robotaxis create gridlock after expansion approved in San Francisco
As many as 10 Cruise driverless taxis stopped working in San Francisco’s North Beach on Friday night. The tech fiasco caused traffic to back up and left many people questioning the recent decision by state regulators to approve the expanded use of robotaxis.