Crowd sets Waymo self-driving car ablaze in San Francisco

(Reuters) – A crowd vandalized a Waymo self-driving vehicle and set it on fire by throwing a firework inside the car in San Francisco on Saturday, said Waymo, which is owned by Alphabet.

This is not the first time people have attacked a self-driving car, but the severity of the incident may illustrate growing public hostility toward self-driving cars following a pedestrian-dragging accident last year involving a self-driving vehicle operated by General Motors’ Cruise unit.

Waymo said that around 9 p.m. on Saturday (0500 GMT Sunday), someone in a crowd broke a car window and threw a firework inside, setting the vehicle ablaze. Waymo did not say what caused the crowd to attack the car.

Video footage on social media showed the electric vehicle burning, sending up a huge plume of black smoke.

“The vehicle was not transporti...