Beloved SF cat’s death fuels Waymo criticism

The loss of life of a neighborhood bodega cat named Package Kat has shaken San Francisco’s Mission District, according to The New York Times.

After Package Kat was run over by a Waymo robotaxi on the night of October 27, locals created a shrine to memorialize him. The realm has additionally been adorned with competing indicators, some criticizing Waymo, others noting the various deaths attributable to human drivers.

Jackie Fielder, who represents the Mission District on SF’s Board of Supervisors, brought up Kit Kat whereas making the case for a proposed metropolis decision that calls on the state to permit native voters to resolve whether or not driverless automobiles can function of their neighborhoods.

“A human driver might be held accountable, can hop out, ask for forgiveness, might be tracked down by police if it’s a hit-and-run,” Fielder instructed the Instances. “Right here, there isn’t any one to carry accountable.”

Waymo, whose co-CEO just lately spoke at Disrupt about the importance of safety, described the incident as one the place a cat “darted beneath our car because it was pulling away.” The corporate stated it sends “our deepest sympathies to the cat’s proprietor and the neighborhood who knew and cherished him.”