Beloved San Francisco Bodega Cat Killed by Waymo Driverless Car

KitKat, a beloved bodega cat who locals referred to as the “mayor of 16th Street,” was a staple of Randa’s Market in San Francisco’s Mission District. But on Monday, tragedy struck. According to the shop’s owner Mike Zeidan, KitKat was killed by a Waymo driverless taxi around 11:30 pm on October 27.  

According to The San Francisco Standard, an anonymous caller reported the robotaxi to the city’s 311 hotline, explaining that the driverless car had hit KitKat while the cat was sitting on the sidewalk near the transit lane. The caller said that the Waymo did not slow down or attempt to avoid the cat. “Waymo’s [sic] should not be on the street if they can’t spot small animals in the dark,” the complaint stated.

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Jeff Klein, another witness, told the Standard and Mission Local that he had been driving behind the Waymo around 11:40 PM. “Some folks on the sidewalk started yelling and grabbed the cat right out from under where the Waymo swerved from,” Klein said.

KitKat began living in Randa’s Market six years ago. He’d been a stray before, but a local started feeding him. Zeidan told the Standard that KitKat was given to the store because that neighbor had a family member allergic to cats, and Randa needed some rodent solutions. KitKat quickly became a staple of the community and was heavily featured on the store’s social media accounts. 

“He was a special guest,” Zeidan said to the Standard. “Made for a store like this. Friendly with everybody, and not afraid of dogs or anything.”

After news of his passing spread, the neighborhood gathered to mourn KitKat. Comments on the Randa’s Market Instagram pay respect to the cat, while also crying for justice and accountability from Waymo. A memorial now sits outside of Randa’ Market decorated with candles, pictures, and flowers.

“By tomorrow, there’ll be a full-on altar, and as Day of the Dead comes, it’ll grow and grow,” Margarita Lara, who works at nearby bar, told the Standard. “Sixteenth Street will not be the same. As I walked from near Mission Street to here with the candles and the flowers this morning, everyone knew who it was for. Everyone bowed their heads with KitKat.”

Waymo began offering rides to the public in San Francisco in 2021 — and KitKat is not the first pet to be killed by a driverless car in the city. In 2023, a dog was struck and killed by a Waymo. This past January, a man and his dog were killed in a collision involved multiple cars, one of which was a driverless Waymo. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) requires all self-driving car companies to report each time one of their vehicles is in a collision or accident.

In uncanny timing, Waymo’s CEO Tekedra Mawakana was in San Francisco this past Monday for TechCrunch’s annual Disrupt conference. During a panel with journalist Kirsten Korosec, Mawakana specifically addressed the question of whether or not society is ready to accept a death by driverless vehicle. 

“Will society accept that? Will society accept a death potentially caused by a robot?” asked Korosec.

“I think society will,” answered Mawakana. “I think the challenge for us is making sure that society has a high enough bar on safety that companies are held to.”

In a comment to Kinship, Waymo said the following:

“The trust and the safety of the communities we serve is our highest priority. 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. We send our deepest sympathies to the cat’s owner and the community who knew and loved him, and we will be making a donation to a local animal rights organization in his honor.”