Mission Local – Zoox confirms its autonomous car struck vehicle, injuring S.F. street ambassador
Zoox confirmed the collision the day after the incident, saying its vehicle ‘tried to avoid’ a car door opening but could not
See original article by Joe Rivano Barros and Joe Eskenazi at Mission Local
A San Francisco street-outreach worker suffered a battered hand after his car was struck by an autonomous Zoox vehicle on Saturday afternoon, according to the worker’s manager.
Jamel Durden, a 30-something street ambassador with the group Ahsing Solutions who regularly patrols the streets of the Mission District, was ending his break at around 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and leaving his 1977 Cadillac Coupe DeVille when a Zoox vehicle struck the driver’s side door.
Durden, who was trying to close the door, had his hand smashed by the Zoox vehicle near 15th and Mission streets, according to his manager, Terraine Miller, who said Durden relayed to him what happened.
Zoox confirmed the collision in a statement on Sunday. The company wrote that “a robotaxi was traveling straight on 15th Street when the driver of a parked vehicle suddenly opened their door into the path of the robotaxi.”
“The robotaxi identified the opening door and tried to avoid it but contact was unavoidable,” the company wrote. “Following the incident between the two vehicles, Zoox followed all standard safety protocols including offering medical attention if necessary, which the individual declined.”
Paramedics who arrived on scene looked over Durden, Miller said, but he declined their offer to take him to the hospital — he did not want to leave his battered car unattended. Besides the smashed hand, Durden suffered from neck and back pain, Miller said.
Photos from the scene show Durden’s blue-purple Cadillac with its door dented in and its window smashed. Broken glass was on the street.
The Zoox autonomous car — which is a custom-built, carriage-style vehicle with doors that slide open — was also damaged: Its glass doors were cracked and a long scrape ran across the bottom of the vehicle.
The company began offering rides in San Francisco last November and its vehicles have become a common sight on city streets.
See original article by Joe Rivano Barros and Joe Eskenazi at Mission Local
