So do hotels, I guess that’s why no hotel room has ever been trashed.
The point is when there's damage, it can be billed to the malicious actor in question.
At some point, the people who tent to leave a mess in Waymos just... won't be allowed to ride in Waymos any more.
Starting to sound a bit like a credit system or some other dystopian shit show. You do something dumb, drunk while in college and you're cut off...sounds amazing.
This would reductively mean a more effective form of punishing vandalism, which would in of itself be a slight net good overall.
In the ideal case, there would be a recompense program to pay for the damages made + extra, in return for being able to ride them again.
Meta-point: This discussion has significant overlap with busses/trains/public transportation. How we deal with bad actors in that space would translate well into this space.
But for some people, a fine is just the cost of doing the thing. And for every bad actor you ban, there's another bad actor willing to take their place.
A friend of mine works night audit in a rough part of the valley. As soon as he says the magic words 'we require a major credit card or a $300 deposit', they immediately hang up.
Sure you can pay in cash at the end if you want.
But you can't get a room in the first place without a credit card, even if they never charge it.
(I mean I'm sure there are some exceptions somewhere, but generally speaking, no, cash isn't sufficient.)