A cyclist, a gate and a pickup truck: Waymo cars keep hitting things

SAN FRANCISCO — Google’s self-driving car company, Waymo, is hitting resistance in its quest to expand 24/7 robotaxi service to other parts of California, including several incidents that have fed public officials’ safety concerns about the vehicles coming to their cities.

Over eight days in February, a Waymo vehicle smashed into a closing gate while exiting the University of Southern California’s campus; the next day, another collided with a cyclist in San Francisco. Later that week, a mob of people vandalized and lit one of its cars on fire. Days later, the company announced a voluntary recall of its software for an incident involving a pickup truck in Phoenix.