San Francisco leaders are rallying to create legislation that puts checks on the autonomous Waymo vehicles after one of the cars killed a neighborhood cat nicknamed, KitKat.
San Francisco city supervisor Jackie Fielder has been one of the most vocal critics of the self-driving vehicles after the loss of the pet, who could frequently be found roaming the city’s Mission District.
“Waymo thinks that they can just sweep this under the rug and we will all forget, but here in Mission, we will never forget our sweet KitKat. We will always put community before tech oligarchs and California should do the same,” she said in a video clip uploaded to X on Monday.
Waymo has acknowledged the death, but there have been conflicting stories about how KitKat died.
Local bystanders allege the cat was sitting in front of the Waymo for at least seven seconds before the car ran over the neighborhood pet, according to KTVU. The company claims the car jumped in front of the moving vehicle.
Fielder is now planning to introduce a resolution allowing counties in California to decide if they want to accept autonomous driving vehicles in their communities.
“AVs [autonomous vehicles] collect endless amounts of data on us and erode ridership from struggling transportation. Public transportation contribute to traffic congestion and also drive harmful mining practices in the global south,” she said in the clip.
“So tomorrow, I will be introducing a resolution calling on Gov. [Gavin] Newsom [(D)] and the California Legislature to give us voters the say on our local ballots at the county level to have a say over the future of autonomous vehicles.”
Waymo told The Guardian “trust and the safety of the communities we serve is our highest priority” but declined to comment on pending legislation.
“We send our deepest sympathies to the cat’s owner and the community who knew and loved him, and we have made a donation to a local animal rights organization in his honor,” the statement to the outlet said.
