Beloved SF cat’s death fuels Waymo criticism

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

After Kit Kat was run over by a Waymo robotaxi on the evening of October 27, locals created a shrine to memorialize him. The area has also been decorated with competing signs, some criticizing Waymo, others noting the many deaths caused by human drivers.

Jackie Fielder, who represents the Mission District on SF’s Board of Supervisors, brought up Kit Kat while making the case for a proposed city resolution that calls on the state to allow local voters to decide whether driverless cars can operate in their neighborhoods.

“A human driver can be held accountable, can hop out, say sorry, can be tracked down by police if it’s a hit-and-run,” Fielder told the Times. “Here, there is no one to hold accountable.”

Waymo, whose co-CEO recently spoke at Disrupt about the importance of safety, described the incident as one where a cat “darted under our vehicle as it was pulling away.” The company said it sends “our deepest sympathies to the cat’s owner and the community who knew and loved him.”