'Are we on fire, dude?' When a Waymo ran over a firework
Waymo passengers in San Francisco got the ride of their life over the July 4th weekend — when their car ran over a lit firework.
The riders appear to have filmed the incident from the back seat as they approached an intersection with people lighting illegal fireworks.
The autonomous vehicle then drove into the hazard. Passenger Rose Peterson told local affiliate ABC7 the incident was terrifying.
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"The more me and my fiancé were talking about it, something really bad could have happened to us, something bad could have happened to the people around us," Peterson said. "It was a very scary situation."
The video caught one of the passengers uttering the remark: "Are we on fire, dude?"
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A Waymo spokesperson told Mashable there were no injuries or vehicle damage. The company has also contacted the rider about their well-being.
"We're committed to keeping our riders safe and earning the trust of the communities where we operate," the spokesperson said in a statement. "We take situations like this seriously and are committed to evaluating and learning from these events."
Elsewhere in San Francisco on July 4, Waymo cars stalled when they lost power amidst heavy traffic congestion. Drivers reported being trapped in an hours-long traffic jam as they waited for the autonomous vehicles to be towed.
Topics Self-Driving Cars Social Good
Rebecca Ruiz is a Senior Reporter at Mashable. She frequently covers mental health, digital culture, and technology. Her areas of expertise include suicide prevention, screen use and mental health, parenting, youth well-being, and meditation and mindfulness. Rebecca's experience prior to Mashable includes working as a staff writer, reporter, and editor at NBC News Digital and as a staff writer at Forbes. Rebecca has a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and a masters degree from U.C. Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.
