Cruise is a pioneer in autonomous driving and is already planning cars without a steering wheel or pedals. But now the permit for driverless taxis is being suspended – the reason is a serious accident.
After two accidents involving pedestrians, the robotaxi company Cruise is no longer allowed to send cars onto the streets of San Francisco without people behind the wheel. The California Department of Transportation suspended the GM subsidiary’s permit indefinitely. Tests with safety drivers behind the wheel are not affected. Vehicles from competitor Waymo are still allowed to drive driverless through San Francisco.
The authority particularly referred to the accident at the beginning of October, in which a woman came under a cruise vehicle and was dragged several meters by the car. This shows that the vehicles are not safe enough. In addition, the accident was presented in a more harmless manner in initial descriptions.
Car dragged hit woman
According to the accident report, the pedestrian was initially hit by another vehicle with a human behind the wheel and thrown in front of the self-driving car. The self-driving car braked immediately – but was no longer able to prevent the collision.
The traffic authority is particularly bothered by what happened afterwards. The robotaxi initially stopped, but then tried to pull over to the side of the road. The woman stuck under the car was dragged around six meters and the car reached a speed of a good eleven kilometers per hour, the authorities’ decision said. Cruise said on Tuesday that it was examining how the software for responding to such rare events could be improved.
The US traffic authority NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) recently opened a preliminary investigation into Cruise and referred to another incident. According to this, a cruise robotaxi drove to a traffic light intersection at the end of August with the green light on – and at the same time a pedestrian stepped in front of the vehicle. The software tried to evade and brake. However, the car still hit the pedestrian at a speed of around two kilometers per hour.
City administration and residents against taxis
San Francisco is currently a unique test case for self-driving taxis. The General Motors subsidiary Cruise and the Google sister company Waymo are active in the city. They received permission from a California regulator over the summer to expand their driverless transportation services throughout the city.
The city administration and numerous residents were against it. Among other things, they argued that the software-controlled vehicles often blocked traffic and thus hindered rescue workers during operations. The companies emphasize that robot cars drive safer than humans.
For Cruise, the suspension of the permit for driverless operation is a major setback. The company, which has been financed with billions over the years, has major expansion plans up to the start in Tokyo in 2026 and wants to switch to a robotaxi without a steering wheel or pedals. Cruise is currently still driving converted small cars from the GM electric model Chevy Bolt.
Overall, autonomous vehicles take significantly longer to become part of everyday life than predicted a few years ago. While the technology has long worked under simple conditions, some insiders are now questioning whether the software can be trained to handle all unexpected situations.
Source: Stern
