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RobotRisk / Waymo / 2025-10-27

Waymo robotaxi strikes and kills bodega cat 'KitKat' in San Francisco

S2 · 10/27
2025 · Waymo · San Francisco, CA, USA

Record

CompanyWaymo
Categoryav trucking
Typemalfunction
Date10/27
2025
Time of daynot documented
LocationSan Francisco, CA, USA
SeverityS2 (minor injury or single-unit damage)
Scale1 vehicle
Confidencehigh
VerificationYes - adversarially checked against the cited source
SourceABC7 Bay Area / SFGATE / KTVU

What happened

A Waymo autonomous vehicle struck and killed a well-known neighborhood bodega cat named KitKat outside a Mission District corner store in San Francisco; Waymo said the cat darted under the vehicle.

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3496982016 S5: 11162018 S5: 11182019 S5: 11192021 S1: 11212022 S2: 12022 S3: 32022 S5: 15222023 S1: 12023 S2: 12023 S3: 32023 S4: 42023 S5: 211232024 S1: 42024 S2: 92024 S3: 72024 S4: 22024 S5: 426242025 S1: 62025 S2: 5362025 S3: 132025 S4: 42025 S5: 4563252026 S1: 22026 S2: 6582026 S3: 312026 S4: 42026 S5: 369826
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Comparable malfunction events in av trucking

SevDateCompanyEvent
S12026-07-04WaymoWaymo drives into live fireworks display, alarming passengers
S22026-07TeslaTesla robotaxi drives wrong-way in Tampa
S12026-04AvrideAvride autonomous vehicle strikes and kills a duck in Austin, prompting testing pause
S22026-03-16ZooxNHTSA logs 123 Zoox autonomous-mode accidents cumulative
S22026-01WaymoWaymo Robotaxi Enters Phoenix Light-Rail Tracks as Train Approaches
S22025-12-08WaymoWaymo Robotaxi Transports Undetected Man Trapped in Trunk in Los Angeles
S12025-12TeslaOptimus falls backward and collapses during Miami 'Autonomy Visualized' demo
S12025-10WaymoWaymo robotaxi perception blind spot led to killing of cat 'Kit Kat'

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