Cat's Death Could Change Robotaxi Rules in SF

The death of a well-known San Francisco cat named KitKat, known to locals as the "mayor of 16th Street," has touched off a new wave of anger toward autonomous vehicles in the city. KitKat, a fixture at Randa's Market in the Mission District, was killed last week by a Waymo robotaxi. The company says the cat darted under the vehicle as it was pulling away. Market owner Mike Zeidan tells Rolling Stone that witnesses saw KitKat under the Waymo and tried to stop the vehicle. "This lady said there was nobody to yell at in the car, no driver. They were touching the car, hoping it wouldn't move, and it just ... ran over him," he says.

Community members have since set up a shrine at the market and posted tributes online, while local politicians are seizing the moment to push for tighter controls on driverless cars, the Guardian reports. San Francisco supervisor Jackie Fielder plans to introduce legislation to let counties decide if autonomous vehicles can operate within their borders—a move inspired by KitKat's death and broader concerns about the rapid spread of AI-driven technology. "Here in the Mission, we will never forget our sweet KitKat, (and) we will always put community before tech oligarchs," she said in an Instagram reel, per the San Francisco Chronicle.

At a press conference outside Randa's on Tuesday, Fielder and others criticized the influence of tech companies and raised fears about job losses and the lack of local input on the robotaxi rollout. "The mayor of this space was taken by technology that none of us asked for, and crucially to this resolution, none of us consented to," said Justin Dolezal, a local bar owner.

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The incident has become a flashpoint in ongoing debates over the safety and oversight of autonomous vehicles. While Waymo touts its safety record and says it operates about 1,500 cars nationwide, critics point to high-profile mishaps—such as a rival robotaxi that dragged a woman—and ask how self-driving cars should be held accountable for traffic violations. Activists have protested the vehicles by disabling them with traffic cones or, in extreme cases, setting them on fire. Waymo declined to address the proposed legislation but emphasized its commitment to safety and said it had donated to an animal rights group in KitKat's honor.