Of six crash reports involving robot cars filed in California so far this year, two involved a human approaching the car and attacking it.
On Jan. 2, a Chevy Bolt EV operated by General Motors' Cruise driverless car division in San Francisco's Mission District was waiting at a green light for pedestrians to cross when a man "ran across Valencia Street against the 'do not walk' symbol, shouting, and struck the left side of the Cruise AV's rear bumper and hatch with his entire body," damaging a tail light, according to a report filed with the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
No one was injured and police were not called, the report said. The car was in autonomous mode but a driver was behind the wheel, as required by current law.
On Jan. 28, a GM Cruise Bolt EV with a human driving the car stopped behind a taxi on Duboce Avenue in San Francisco, when "the driver of the taxi exited his vehicle, approached the Cruise AV, and slapped the front passenger window, causing a scratch," the incident report said. There were no injuries and police were not called.
How a hand slap could scratch windshield glass was a subject the report left undiscussed.
