---
title: "People Are Throwing Eggs at Google’s Self-Driving Vans"
description: "For some reason, people love to vandalize Google offshoot Waymo's self-driving vehicles, especially by throwing eggs and ice cream."
date: "2021-04-01"
modified: "2021-04-01"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/people-throwing-eggs-googles-self-driving-vans"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
  - "Google"
  - "Self-Driving Vehicles"
tags:
  - "Autonomous vehicles"
  - "the digest"
  - "waymo"
---

# People Are Throwing Eggs at Google’s Self-Driving Vans

![For some reason, people love to vandalize Google offshoot Waymo's self-driving vehicles, especially by throwing eggs and ice cream.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/egged.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Melani Sosa via Unsplash / Futurism\</em\>*

## Splat!

In and around Phoenix Arizona, Waymo's self-driving vehicles still aren't exactly popular.

The autonomous vehicle (AV) developer, owned by Google parent company Alphabet, has been using Phoenix as its [testing grounds](<https://futurism.com/waymo-ditches-safety-drivers-self-driving-taxis>) for years now — where the self-driving minivans have been the subject of eggings, shouting matches, and other spats with locals, the *[Phoenix New Times ](<https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/waymo-arizona-abrupt-stops-angry-residents-are-still-a-problem-11541896>)*[reports](<https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/waymo-arizona-abrupt-stops-angry-residents-are-still-a-problem-11541896>). Maybe it's just road rage, but [as *Jalopnik* helpfully notes](<https://jalopnik.com/the-good-people-of-phoenix-are-egging-the-self-driving-1846594207?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=dlvrit&utm_content=jalopnik>), those locals might be heroes might also be viewed as launching pre-emptive strikes to quell a future robot uprising.

## Classic Prank

The *Phoenix New Times* lists several accounts of anti-AV violence, including one guy driving around in a black car egging several of Waymo's vehicles. Another person threw an ice-cream cone through a Waymo van's open window.

Yet another ran up to scream at the driver and break the van's mirror — though to be fair, that person have thought Waymo was responsible for hitting a dog that was already in the street.

## Insider Scoop

Back in 2019, Futurism [spoke to someone](<https://futurism.com/waymo-one-early-rider-autonomous-vehicle>) who periodically used Waymo's robot taxi service, Waymo One. They detailed similar anti-robot sentiments, like drivers refusing to let the self-driving van merge into lanes or succumbing to disproportionate levels of road rage against the occasionally buggy system's shortcomings.

That is to say that these anti-robot sentiments aren't new, nor are they necessarily isolated incidents. And, as that Waymo One passenger put it, "people are dicks."

**READ MORE:** [The Good People Of Phoenix Are Egging The Self-Driving Google Cars](<https://jalopnik.com/the-good-people-of-phoenix-are-egging-the-self-driving-1846594207?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=dlvrit&utm_content=jalopnik>) \[*Jalopnik*\]

**More on self-driving cars:** *[Exclusive: A Waymo One Rider’s Experiences Highlight Autonomous Rideshare’s Shortcomings](<https://futurism.com/waymo-one-early-rider-autonomous-vehicle>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)