Cruise Suspends Driverless Operations Nationwide: Prioritizing Public Safety
In a significant move, Cruise, the autonomous vehicle unit owned by General Motors, has decided to suspend its driverless operations nationwide. The decision comes after California regulators revoked Cruise’s license due to concerns about public safety. The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) took this action following investigations into potential risks posed by Cruise’s driverless cars to pedestrians and passengers.
Cruise recently began offering transportation services to passengers in San Francisco, but the license revocation has put a halt to those operations. Additionally, U.S. regulators have initiated an investigation into Cruise based on reports of incidents involving potential risks to pedestrians and passengers.
Cruise made the announcement of the suspension on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, stating that they are proactively pausing driverless operations across all their fleets. This pause will allow Cruise to thoroughly examine their processes, systems, and tools, reflecting on how they can operate in a way that will regain public trust.
It is essential to note that the decision to suspend driverless services is not a response to any new on-road incidents, as clarified by Cruise. Human-supervised operations of their autonomous vehicles will continue, albeit under California’s indefinite suspension.
This suspension deals a significant blow to General Motors Co., which had ambitious revenue goals for Cruise. They had anticipated annual revenue of $1 billion from Cruise by 2025, a substantial increase from the $106 million generated last year. Cruise has also conducted robotaxi service tests in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, and other cities.
While the California DMV did not provide specific reasons for the license revocation, concerns about the hazards and inconveniences created by Cruise’s robotaxis have been mounting. One incident involved a Cruise robotaxi running over a pedestrian who had already been hit by another vehicle driven by a human. The pedestrian became trapped under a tire of the Cruise vehicle after it came to a stop. Cruise has reiterated its cooperation with state and federal regulators investigating the accident and mentioned that their engineers are working on ways to improve the response of their robotaxis in such rare events.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has also jumped into action, launching an investigation into Cruise’s autonomous vehicle division. Reports of incidents where vehicles may not have used proper caution around pedestrians, including crosswalks, have raised concerns. The NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation received two reports of pedestrian injuries involving Cruise vehicles, and two additional incidents were identified from publicly posted videos. The total number of incidents is currently unknown.
In a separate investigation initiated in December of last year, the NHTSA looked into reports of Cruise robotaxis stopping abruptly or unexpectedly quitting, potentially leaving passengers stranded. The probe was prompted by three rear-end collisions that occurred when Cruise AVs braked suddenly.
In response to the NHTSA’s investigations, Cruise has emphasized its willingness to cooperate and address questions regarding their safety record and operations. They have been responsive to the requests of the ongoing investigation process and will continue to do so.
Cruise has previously highlighted its exceptional safety record in terms of crash rates, asserting that its driverless miles have outperformed human drivers. However, these recent developments have underscored the need for comprehensive evaluation and improvement to ensure the highest level of public safety.
Tag: Personal Injury Law
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