PHOENIX – Waymo will allow the general public to download an app and catch a ride in a fully autonomous van -- with nobody behind the wheel -- in the weeks ahead. It will be the first time average Janes and Joes can order a ride in the conspicuous Pacifica minivans that buzz around public roads in Chandler, Arizona, and other East Valley cities the way they might use a service like Lyft or Uber. The launch of this new phase of Waymo's car service, which begins with a smaller step on Thursday, marks a significant milestone in the company's march toward offering a fully autonomous ride service. Waymo, like Google, is a division of California-based Alphabet Inc. The company brought autonomous vehicles to Chandler in 2016 and has incrementally expanded both the area where the cars operate and who is allowed to ride in them.

At least 21 such attacks have been leveled at Waymo vans in Chandler, as first reported by The Arizona Republic. Some analysts say they expect more such behavior as the nation moves into a broader discussion about the potential for driverless cars to unleash colossal changes in American society. "People are lashing out justifiably," said Douglas Rushkoff, a media theorist at City University of New York and author of the book "Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus." He likened driverless cars to robotic incarnations of scabs -- workers who refuse to join strikes or who take the place of those on strike. "There's a growing sense that the giant corporations honing driverless technologies do not have our best interests at heart," Mr. Rushkoff said.

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Waymo self-driving cars are seen Nov. 28, 2018, in Chandler. Emergency crews directed the afternoon traffic around the wrecked cars and fire engines at McQueen and Pecos roads in the Phoenix suburb in mid-October. The Chrysler Pacifica minivan -- equipped with former Google car company Waymo's self-driving vehicle technology -- approached the scene tepidly, while dozens of other vehicles merged into the turn lanes far sooner. A human driver in this situation might try to make eye contact with the drivers already in the crowded turn lane, or even wave, to try to cut in. But drivers around a Waymo van never know if the car is driving itself, or if the test driver behind the wheel has control as they maneuver through school zones, shopping centers and freeways across the southeast Phoenix metro area, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Roundup This week's AI roundup includes an alarming report from California's Department of Motor Vehicles about how shoddy autonomous cars still are, a Waymo self-driving car crash, and some news from Facebook's F8 conference and its new job posting. Uh oh, not another self-driving car crash It's Waymo's turn to be involved in a car crash. Reports from local news in Arizona showed a beat up Waymo van and a trashed Honda Sedan lying around piles of debris on a road in Chandler on Friday. Check out the impact from a TV report from ABC 15. The white Waymo van was in autonomous mode when the crash happened.

A Honda sedan swerving to avoid another car crashed into a Waymo self-driving van on May 4, 2018 in Chandler, Ariz. The can's driver was injured. SAN FRANCISCO -- A self-driving van that's part of Google's tests in Arizona was involved in an accident Friday after a car being driven by a human swerved to avoid another human-driven car and crashed into it. Photos taken at the scene show significant damage to the driver's side of the Waymo van and the front of a silver Honda sedan, with pieces of both vehicles scattered across the roadway. According to police reports, the Honda was driving eastbound in Chandler, Ariz.