California DMV SUSPENDS Cruise driverless taxi permits to halt service in San Francisco after the cars caused chaos in the streets
The California Department of Motor Vehicles has suspended Cruise’s permits to deploy and test self-driving cars, arguing that the cars pose an “unreasonable risk to public safety.”
A number of chaotic incidents led to the order, the latter accusing Cruise employees of concealing the entire circumstances behind an accident that seriously injured a pedestrian in the company’s hometown of San Francisco on October 2.
In that incident, a woman was struck by an unrelated car, putting her into the path of a driverless cruiser, which braked hard before colliding with her.
The robotaxi stopped on top of the woman for 30 minutes as she screamed for help.
Cruise representatives held a meeting with representatives from the DMV and California Highway Patrol, where Cruise employees reportedly played video from the car’s onboard cameras.
Cruise-owned General Motors had its permits suspended to deploy and test self-driving cars in San Francisco amid accusations that its employees covered up the full story behind a crash earlier this month
In the October 2 incident, a passenger was trapped under a cruise taxi for 30 minutes after another car pushed her into its path
Footage posted on social media shows the victim’s feet sticking out from under the vehicle as police officers crowd around her
DMV officials requested additional images from the company, which the company sent 10 days after the meeting.
The new footage showed the car continuing on after the initial stop and attempting to perform a ‘pullover manoeuvre’, traveling approximately six meters with the pedestrian still trapped underneath.
This maneuver “increased the risk of, and may have resulted in, further injury to a pedestrian,” the DMV wrote in a report.
“Cruise’s inaction hampers the department’s ability to effectively and timely assess the safe operation of Cruise’s vehicles and endangers the safety of the public,” the department added.
General Motors’ company must request hearings to reinstate both its deployment permit and driverless testing permit, although it is unclear how long that will take.
“If there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the RDW can immediately suspend or revoke permits,” the RDW writes in the justification for the suspension.
The department cited portions of the state’s regulatory text for autonomous vehicles as evidence that the robotaxis “is not safe for the public” and that the company has “misrepresented” safety information.
News of the suspensions comes after the DMV ordered Cruise to cut its San Francisco fleet in half in August, following an incident in which one of its cars was struck by a fire truck after failing to yield to emergency sirens.
Cruise was forced to cut its robotaxis fleet in half in San Francisco after one of the cars crashed into a fire truck while carrying a passenger
Firefighters alerted the company to the incident by jamming the car’s sensors (left).
It appeared that the robotaxi had failed to yield to the fire truck’s emergency sirens, causing an accident
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a investigated General Motors last week after receiving two complaints and learning about two more online.
In a statement, the agency said its Office of Defects Investigation has received reports of incidents in which the autonomous vehicles “may not have exercised due care around pedestrians in the roadway.”
This included “vehicles entering or entering pedestrians on roadways, including pedestrian crosswalks, in close proximity to the vehicles’ intended path of travel.”
The decision to revoke the company’s permits follows several incidents in San Francisco, including a close call earlier this month in which a cruise car suddenly drove toward a sidewalk before coming to an abrupt stop.
“The AV made a late decision to change the route and could not achieve the desired section,” the company told Dailymail.com.
‘The AV then came to a stop outside the flow of traffic and called for remote assistance. The overall scenario was quickly resolved and the ride continued as planned.”
San Francisco Mayor London Breed addressed the suspension during a news conference on Tuesday.
“At the end of the day, safety is the most important thing,” Breed said.
“I hope this will allow them to spend some time improving their security measures, because we want to welcome this technology, but in a responsible and safe way.”
San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Tuesday praised the permit suspension and also reiterated her enthusiasm for self-driving vehicles
Protesters have immobilized cruise cars by placing traffic cones on their hoods in an effort to draw attention to safety concerns
Driverless cars have been involved in a series of incidents, including a collision with a city bus
In early October, a cruise vehicle suddenly swerved out of traffic and sped toward pedestrians on a sidewalk before coming to an abrupt stop
The San Francisco-based company has been testing its fleet in the city since 2020 and started offering driverless taxi rides last year.
The company has since expanded service to Austin, Phoenix and Houston.
Google’s robotaxi Waymo was deployed in San Francisco last year and began integrating in areas like Santa Monica and Los Angeles this month.
It quickly faced pushback from union organizers and lawmakers who called for new regulations for autonomous vehicles.
Los Angeles Councilman Hugo Soto-Martínez’s office issued a statement shortly after the DMV revoked Cruise’s robotaxi permits.
The council member plans to introduce a motion “urging state officials to address public safety concerns surrounding autonomous vehicles and lead the expansion of robotaxis in Los Angeles.”
The motion would see Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto join San Francisco’s existing lawsuit against the California Public Utilities Commission, one of the regulators overseeing the rollout of self-driving cars in the state.
Last month, San Francisco formally requested that state regulators reschedule an August hearing expanding robotaxi permits for both Cruise and Waymo.
The permits provided no restrictions on geographic area, hours of service or fleet size, with opponents claiming this could lead to an uncontrolled number of autonomous vehicles roaming the streets.
Most concerning, they did not require the companies to report incidents where robotaxis malfunctioned in traffic, blocking the flow of other drivers, public transportation, and first responders.