Waymo Suing People Who Allegedly Trashed Its Robotaxis

It's Waymo, or the highway.

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Self-driving cars aren't getting a lot of love these days. Few know this better than the driverless taxi company Waymo, a Silicon Valley startup that's now trying to fight off people trashing its cars.

As Wired reports, Waymo has quietly sued two alleged vandals in a pair of lawsuits, filed earlier this month in California, which seemingly mark the first time the Google-owned company has taken legal action of this kind, and for which it is seeking thousands of dollars in compensation.

According to the more recent suit filed last week, one of the vandals was the driver of a Tesla Model 3, Konstantine Nikka-Sher Piterman, who allegedly rear-ended one of Waymo's robotaxis on purpose — which, given Tesla's aggressive pursuit of its own self-driving tech, feels like an act of friendly fire.

Waymo charges that, on March 19, Piterman blew past a stop sign and plowed into one of its autonomous taxis, an electric Jaguar SUV. Then, he allegedly smashed his Tesla into Waymo's cab for a second time, before entering the car and eventually threatening a Waymo representative that showed up to investigate the crash.

Piterman, however, seems to put the blame squarely on the robotaxi. "lol," Piterman wrote in an apparently now-deleted tweet tagging Tesla CEO Elon Musk. "this Waymo just rekt me. I was driving, it was empty. I think I'm ok. Leg hurts a tiny bit but head is fine. My car is rekt."

"Can I pls work 4 u," he added, pleading to Musk.

Serial Slasher

The other lawsuit, filed earlier this month, alleges that a 36-year-old Ronaile Burton slashed the tires of at least 19 Waymo robotaxis, including some that were carrying passengers at the time. The company is seeking around $88,000 in damages and compensation.

Waymo filed a restraining order against Burton, who is currently in jail, but was denied for reasons that are unclear. The company argued, per Wired, that without the order "Waymo will be perceived as a ride-hailing service provider that cannot protect its passengers."

Fighting back, Burton's public defender argued that she's "someone in need of help and not jail," and drew attention to the fact that Waymo — and several other self-driving companies — are under federal investigation for "creating dangerous conditions on our streets."

As it stands, Burton's motivations aren't clear. As for Piterman — from whom Waymo is demanding $137,000 in punitive damages — Wired found this tweet from an account that appears to be him, in which he claims that "these waymos are ruining everything."

At any rate, Waymo's intentions seem crystal: it's sending a message to people screwing with its expensive taxis, that, equipped with some 29 cameras looking in all directions, are basically surveillance apparatuses on wheels.

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