Automotive design engineers of self-driving vehicle technology have given a lot of thought to such issues as how to keep passengers and pedestrians safe, how to avoid collisions with other vehicles, and the fastest and safest GPS route to a destination. But the recent ICE protests in Los Angeles exposed a new scenario of vulnerability: How do you keep autonomous vehicles from becoming victims of criminal acts such as vandalism and arson?
Five vehicles owned by Google’s self-driving spinoff called Waymo were vandalized and set ablaze during protests against the Trump Administration’s use of ICE raids to deport illegal aliens. Images and videos of the flaming cars went viral illustrating how vulnerable robotaxis can be in such situations. The ironic part is some reported the autonomous vehicles were summoned to the protest site via their own app to meet their own demise.
For many Americans sitting at home watching the news, seeing climate change believing liberals vandalizing and setting robotaxi EVs ablaze seemed just hypocritical and stupid. But there was a backstory we were not being told.
For all their advanced technology, artificial intelligence, expensive cameras, satellite connections, radar, and sensors, the cars which seemed so defenseless at the time actually have been anything but. These vehicles have also been used as spies for the government, law enforcement, and even marketing companies. The same vehicles that have been taking passengers safely to their destinations have also been data information magnets absorbing information all along the way for others to make use of later.
Waymos have been vandalized in other ways before. They have had their tires slashed, their windshields smashed, their doors torn off and their bodies defaced with spray paint. These autonomous vehicles become vulnerable due their abundance of caution. Driverless vehicles are engineered to stay put if there’s any risk of injuring a passenger or pedestrian.
Autonomous technology companies like Waymo have a new design problem in on how to deter vandalism long term. Waymo reports each of their cars have 29 cameras but new generation facemasks (like the one used by the assassin in Minnesota last weekend) make facial recognition technology ineffective.
Uber and Lyft drivers noted that vandalism incidents bolster the importance of having human drivers as a deterrent. Indeed some sheriffs and political leaders around the country and states are now authorizing human drivers to run through and/or over protesters in the street if they fear for their safety and welfare.
Waymo responded to the ICE protests in Los Angeles and elsewhere by temporarily downsizing its service area to keep both its passengers and vehicles out of harm’s way. For now the vandalism problem has mostly been limited to Waymo, the biggest self-driving car company in the country. It has about 1,500 vehicles operating in four regions with additional cities scheduled to come online later this year.
But Waymo will soon see more competition, with rumors Tesla is planning to launch a robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, and Amazon-backed Zoox planning a service in both Las Vegas and San Francisco.
There have been no arrests thus far for the attacks on the 5 Waymo vehicles in Los Angeles riots. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said it was taking the lead in investigating the Waymo attacks, making them the subject of a federal investigation and crime.
“The cause of these fires is quite obvious,” ATF special agent Kenneth Cooper of the Los Angeles Field Division said in a statement.
“The task at hand now is to determine who is responsible. ATF’s National Response Team is going to be a tremendous asset, and we look forward to the results of their efforts to hold the responsible parties accountable,” he said.
CONCLUSION:
I am not a criminal living a life of crime so on the one hand I have no issue with Uncle Sam looking over my shoulders. But, on the other hand, I grew up in a time when required school reading included George Orwell’s 1949 novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four” where we learned a time would come when “Big Brother” would be watching us.
This issue of autonomous vehicles “spying” on us gives me truly mixed emotions. I have a similar issue with smart electronic devices such as cellphones and televisions as well.
I am nowhere close to being categorized a liberal but I have also never approved of invasion of privacy or police sting operations that consist of entrapment. Here are two scenarios of what I am referring to that I believe to be unconstitutional and illegal:
Scenario one – is a small municipality needs revenue so they hold their police department to a quota system that they must issue so many traffic tickets in a given month. Pretty soon the cops are hiding out around local drinking establishments that serve alcohol waiting for drivers to leave and make mistakes.
Scenario two – police go on the Internet and have officers pretend to be underage girls looking for sex with older men making the hunters the hunted. Some would say they have no problem with this but if the male is somewhat low intelligence and easily duped…
In the second scenario I believe first time offenders should get probation as what these cops just did in this little charade (to me) is no different than if they were school bullies putting a “KICK ME” sign on a naïve kid’s back. Also, why is it you never hear of women being caught up in these law enforcement sting operations looking for underage boys? Does this crime only work one way? To me, that stinks of discrimination!
Judging by the number of female teachers getting caught having sex with their minor male students I would guess this to be just as serious a problem!
I must say I am truly on the fence of what is right and what is wrong in this idea of autonomous vehicles driving around monitoring us but I do see AI as a potential overall threat to our existence as humans so now would be a good time to discuss this hot topic.
Finally, I was actually more upset about not know about this little factoid because of a negligent mainstream media’s refusal to report the news than I was learning I am being unknowingly watched!
“LA Protests: Self-Driving Waymo Cars TRASHED By Angry Rioters” – One Demand News
I hate feeling stupid and this story left me feeling very stupid. Also, I am no longer so upset with all of the young people destroying these 5 Waymo vehicles in LA. At least now I understand their rage.
© 2025 by Mark S. Schwendau
