A SELF-DRIVING Waymo vehicle has struck and killed a small dog in San Francisco in an accident the driverless company claims was unavoidable.

The accident report states that the autonomous Jaguar I-Pace SUV was traveling in an industrial area on the south side of the city near Waymo’s depot when the dog ran into the road.

This report adds that the driverless Waymo contained a human safety operator behind the wheel during the accident, according to California’s Department of Motor Vehicles.

The human safety driver didn’t recognize the dog, but the Jaguar’s autonomous system did.

Waymo claimed that multiple factors, including the dog’s speed and path trajectory, made the accident unavoidable.

The self-driving software company said: “On May 21 in San Francisco, a small dog ran in front of one of our vehicles with an autonomous specialist in the driver’s seat, and, unfortunately, contact was made.

“The investigation is ongoing. However, the initial review confirmed that the system correctly identified the dog, which ran out from behind a parked vehicle but was not able to avoid contact.

“We send our sincere condolences to the dog’s owner.

“The trust and safety of the communities we are in is the most important thing to us, and we’re continuing to look into this on our end,” Tech Crunch reports.

Monthly filed incidents involving Waymo vehicles have multiplied six-fold this year, according to The San Francisco Standard.

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City data adds that reported incidents related to driverless Waymo and Cruise vehicles, Waymo’s primary competitor, more than tripled from 24 to 87 between January and April, The San Francisco Standard reports.

One of these events included a Waymo SUV blocking a San Francisco fire truck in April, according to KRON4.

Pictures of the blockage showed an intersection at Roanoke Street with a Waymo entirely stopped in the road.

Waymo described the incident: “An autonomously driven vehicle from Waymo was traveling on a narrow street with parked cars to the left and right.

“Due to the parked cars, narrow street, and people in the road and near the car, our vehicle was unable to immediately move for a firetruck attempting to enter the street.

“Our remote assistance teams were working rapidly to develop a new path for the vehicle when instead, after a brief period, the fire truck moved along, and our vehicle continued on its trip.

“We maintain great respect for the SFFD and our first responders and appreciate our ongoing relationship with them,” KRON4 reports.