San Francisco residents haven’t always been kind to Waymo’s growing fleet of self-driving taxis. The autonomous vehicles, which provide tens of thousands of rides each week, have been set on fire, trampled on, and verbally abused in recent months. Now, Waymo is hitting back — in court.
This month, the Silicon Valley company filed two lawsuits, none previously reported, seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages from two alleged vandals. Lawyers for Waymo said in court documents that the alleged vandalism, which destroyed dozens of tires and a rear end, poses a significant threat to the company’s reputation. Riding in a vehicle with the steering wheel turning on its own can be scary enough. Worrying about attackers targeting your rides could undermine Waymo’s ride-hailing business before it even gets past its earliest stages.
Waymo, which is part of Google parent Alphabet, operates a ride-hailing service in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles that is similar to Uber and Lyft, except that it has sensors and software that manages the driving. While its cars have not been involved in any known fatalities, U.S. regulators continue to investigate their sometimes erratic driving. Waymo spokeswoman Sandy Karp said the company has always prioritized safety and that the lawsuits reflect that strategy. She declined to comment further for this story.
In a filing last week in California Superior Court for San Francisco County, Waymo sued a Tesla Model 3 driver who allegedly intentionally rear-ended one of its autonomous Jaguar crossovers. According to the lawsuit, the driver, Konstantine Nikka-Sher Piterman, claimed in a message on X that “Waymo just hit me” before asking Tesla CEO Elon Musk for a job. The other lawsuit filed this month in the same court involves Ronaile Burton, who allegedly slashed the tires of at least 19 Waymo vehicles. Prosecutors in San Francisco have filed criminal charges against her, to which she has pleaded not guilty. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Burton's public defender, Adam Birka-White, said in a statement that Burton “is someone who needs help, not jail time” and that prosecutors “continue to prioritize punishing poor people at the behest of corporations, in this case involving a technology company under federal investigation for creating dangerous conditions on our streets.”
An attorney for Burton in the civil case is not listed in court records, and Burton is currently in jail and could not be reached for comment. Piterman did not respond to a voicemail, a LinkedIn message and emails seeking comment. He did not comment on the allegations in court.
Based on available court records in San Francisco and Phoenix, it appears that Waymo has not previously filed similar lawsuits.
In the Tesla case, Piterman “unlawfully, maliciously and intentionally” drove his car through a stop sign and struck a Waymo car in San Francisco on March 19, the company’s lawsuit says. When the Waymo attempted to stop, Piterman allegedly drove the Tesla back into the Waymo car. He then entered the Waymo and later threatened a Waymo representative who was personally at the scene. San Francisco police cited Piterman for the lawsuit. Police did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
