Copyright Rolling Stone
The shrine to a San Francisco bodega cat continues to grow a week after he was killed by a robotaxi. A mound of brilliant marigolds, colorful hand-written notes, candles, treats, and cat toys overflows onto the sidewalk under a large portrait of a regal-looking tabby adorned with a crown. Locals are grieving the loss of KitKat, a fixture at Randa’s Market in the Mission District, after a Waymo driverless taxi ran over him during a stop to pick up passengers on the night of Oct. 27. A bartender from a nearby bar rushed the cat to a veterinarian hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Known as “the Mayor of 16th Street,” KitKat was named one of the city’s favorite shop cats by SFGate. He patrolled the block daily, visiting businesses for treats, and greeting neighborhood dogs and people alike. “He was a special cat,” says Randa’s Market owner Mike Zeidan, his voice breaking as he gestures to the memorial outside the shop. “You can tell by the love and support he’s getting from the community that he was amazing.” At Delirium, two doors down from Randa’s, bartender Amy Rothbauer says she never worked a shift without KitKat stopping by. It’s especially hard that there’s no one to take responsibility for the feline’s death. “If a driver had killed him, at least there’d be a person to talk to about it,” she says. The news of KitKat’s tragic death has sparked communal grief and outrage as locals weigh in on the safety of autonomous vehicles. SFGate reports that a 311 complaint about the incident alleged that “Waymo did not even try to stop and hit the cat at a fast speed.” Meanwhile, a San Francisco city supervisor is calling for a complete overhaul of robotaxi regulations. Waymo has acknowledged that one of its fleet was responsible for the death of the cat. “We reviewed this, and while our vehicle was stopped to pick up passengers, a nearby cat darted under our vehicle as it was pulling away,” they said in a statement. “We send our deepest sympathies to the cat’s owner and the community who knew and loved him, and we have made a donation to a local animal rights organization in his honor.” The company did not disclose the donation amount or name the organization, and declined to provide additional comment when contacted by Rolling Stone. Editor’s picks According to recent data, Waymo’s market share now rivals that of Lyft. Last August, Waymo disclosed that it has more than 800 vehicles in commercial operation in the Bay Area. That figure, which is nearly three times larger than any total the company had shared before, is frustrating for those who believe that driverless technology is outpacing safety concerns. Last week, on the same day KitKat was killed, Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said onstage at a tech conference that she believes society is ready to accept deaths caused by driverless cars, as long as the companies that operate them are held to high standards — but the outpouring of grief over the death of KitKat seemingly proves that society isn’t ready to put up with any loss of life to a robotaxi, be it human or otherwise. Waymo is just one of the robotaxi companies operating in San Francisco; competitors include Zoox and Tesla. Former Zoox engineer Bob Somers, now an anti-driverless car activist, joined the Tesla Takedown movement after his experience designing and testing AV safety systems convinced him they’re nowhere near as rigorous as they need to be. Somers tells Rolling Stone that, even with sensor suites that include multiple lidar, radar, and camera systems, AVs have failure modes that can lead to disaster. In October 2023, a pedestrian in San Francisco was hit by a driver-operated vehicle and thrown into the path of a Cruise robotaxi that dragged her for 20 feet. “[The AV] did the right thing by slamming on the brakes as hard as it could, but it ended up on top of her,” Somers says. “The problem was that the vehicle didn’t understand that she was trapped under the vehicle, and ended up trying to pull over to the side of the road.” The woman received an $8 million settlement for her injuries. That incident shuttered Cruise for more than a year; the General Motors-owned company only recently restarted operations. Related Content Somers says the AV industry should see KitKat’s death as another stern warning. “Pets are hard to detect and track,” he says. “They dart in and out between things. They hide under cars.” Does that mean that statistics showing that AVs are safer than human-operated vehicles are untrue? It’s a matter of where the statistics are coming from, Somers says. “You shouldn’t trust numbers that come directly from a company’s marketing department.” As of today, Tesla has had at least three robotaxi crashes and paid out two settlements after its Autopilot system was accused of being at fault in two fatalities. Zeidan tells Rolling Stone that witnesses said they saw KitKat sitting under the Waymo, and attempted to stop it from driving off. “This lady said there was nobody to yell at in the car, no driver. They were touching the car, hoping it wouldn’t move, and it just…. ran over him.” Trending Stories Activists have seized on KitKat’s story to raise concerns about robotaxi safety. Calling for Gov. Gavin Newsom to grant voters the right to regulate AVs in their cities, San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder said on Instagram, “Waymo thinks they can just sweep this under the rug and we will all forget, but here in the Mission, we will never forget our sweet KitKat. We will always put community before tech oligarchs, and California should do the same.” On Nov. 4, at a press conference in front of Randa’s Market, Fielder announced a plan to introduce a resolution that would allow counties the right to ban autonomous vehicles. She was joined by Tony Delorio, principal officer of Teamsters Local 665, who told the gathering, “Waymo only follows rules because humans programmed them, not because it cares about our kids. If tech companies want to use our streets, they play by our rules, starting with local control.” Remembering getting the call that KitKat had been hit, Zeidan passes a shaky hand over his face. “It could have been a child,” he says. “Hopefully, something good will come out of [his death].” Next door at Delirium, bar patrons raise a glass in their feline friend’s memory. “Maybe he’ll be a catalyst for change,” one says wryly. Rothbauer, the bartender, sighs. “Everybody loved that KitKat.”
