Cruise gets the green light to give driverless rides to passengers in San Francisco

Table Of Content

• Cruise gets the green light to give driverless rides to passengers in San Francisco
• California DMV suspends Cruise's self-driving car permits, effective immediately
• U.S. to investigate fatal crash that may have involved Ford partially automated driving system
• California DMV suspends permits for Cruise driverless robotaxis
• Indefinite ban due to 'public safety'
• Hit-and-run driver strikes pedestrian, tossing her into path of Cruise car in San Francisco
• California DMV immediately suspends Cruise’s robotaxi permit

“The California DMV today notified Cruise that the department is suspending Cruise’s autonomous vehicle deployment and driverless testing permits, effective immediately,” the department said in an emailed statement. And while the idea of a fully autonomous ride-hailing service is still Waymo’s “north star and ultimate service model,” according to a spokesperson, the company will only remove safety drivers from its vehicles when it’s ready to do so. The California DMV said the decision to suspend the permits was made after the agency determined the vehicles were not safe for the public’s operation and that Cruise misrepresented information related to the autonomous vehicle technology in its vehicles. The department also said that the conduct of autonomous vehicle testing on public roads by Cruise presented an unreasonable risk to the public. While its autonomous operations are suspended, the DMV is allowing the company to continue to operate the cars with human safety drivers.

Cruise gets the green light to give driverless rides to passengers in San Francisco

It is common for robocars to remain in place blocking a lane when they are not 100% sure it is safe to move to another spot, so either the vehicle decided (incorrectly) that it was 100% sure, or perhaps the calculation has changed. In January, San Francisco firefighters battling a two-alarm apartment fire had to smash in the front window of one of Cruise's driverless cars after it entered the firefighting scene and nearly ran over their hoses, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. In March, two of Cruise's driverless cars drove through caution tape put up after wind storms knocked down trees and trolley wires. Despite those incidents, state regulators voted in August to allow self-driving car companies to expand their operations in San Francisco and other California cities. That prompted the city of San Francisco to file motions with the state demanding a halt to that expansion. Supporters of the technology argue that despite the errors, Cruise and Waymo are still safer alternatives to human drivers.

California DMV suspends Cruise's self-driving car permits, effective immediately

Cruise AVs have famously blocked traffic by freezing up in situations they don't have a programmed response for, which has also occurred in Austin. Cruise AVs have also blocked emergency vehicles, leading in one case reported by SFGate to two stationary Cruise vehicles for delaying treatment of a pedestrian hit by a car, resulting in their death. The driverless Cruises have also collided with a bus and killed a dog in June (Waymo is guilty of the same). While Cruise could not provide specific details, a spokesperson said the company moved to get information released quickly in hopes law enforcement officials could use the material to find and apprehend the person involved in the hit and run.

U.S. to investigate fatal crash that may have involved Ford partially automated driving system

While human drivers do regularly hit and drag others on the road, they are less likely to do it because they are oblivious to it. Forghani said Cruise provided regulators a video of the incident and is complying with the DMV's order and "pausing operations." Those cars that have a human safety driver will be allowed to continue operating in the state. California has ordered the company Cruise to immediately stop operations of its driverless cars in the state. The Department of Motor Vehicles said on Tuesday that it was issuing the indefinite suspension because of safety issues with the vehicles. A string of incidents occurred within days of receiving the CPUC permit, including a collision between a Cruise robotaxi and an emergency vehicle that left a passenger injured. The DMV told Cruise it had to reduce its robotaxi fleet to 50% while the department investigated that incident.

Dismantled Vehicle Application

California DMV revokes Cruise's driverless permits effectively immediately - KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco

California DMV revokes Cruise's driverless permits effectively immediately.

Posted: Tue, 24 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

In the incident being reviewed by the DMV, a human hit and run driver tragically struck and propelled the pedestrian into the path of the AV. The AV braked aggressively before impact and because it detected a collision, it attempted to pull over to avoid further safety issues. When the AV tried to pull over, it continued before coming to a final stop, pulling the pedestrian forward.

Red light for robotaxis as California suspends Cruise's license to self-drive - The Register

Red light for robotaxis as California suspends Cruise's license to self-drive.

Posted: Tue, 24 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Mercedes is the first automaker selling to customers to achieve level 3 capabilities in the U.S., with Tesla and others still offering technology at level 2—in which cars can perform specific tasks but require constant supervision from a driver. Some drivers, however, ignore those rules and operate the cars as if they are more capable than they are. One family of a deceased driver has accused Tesla of hyping its assisted driving technology as fully autonomous, allegedly leading to tragic results, while California’s DMV last year accused the company of false advertising over the matter. The DMV said it has provided Cruise with the steps needed to apply to reinstate the suspended permits. Reinstatement would only occur if the company "has fulfilled the requirements to the department's satisfaction," the agency said. "Having a safety driver does not prevent you from making progress. The safety driver does nothing, then you've got safety covered and you're still doing testing," Koopman told reporter Anne Makovec.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday suspended Cruise's permits for deploying driverless taxis across the state, effective immediately, citing an "unreasonable risk to public safety." Cruise is allowed to continue testing with safety drivers, but the order seems to prevent offering any public vehicle service for now. That also means it’s the sort of error that would not be readily discovered while they are in place. This won’t be the last time that pilot deployments of robocars reveal a problem of this sort. The good news is that as problems are found they are fixed for the entire fleet, a pattern where robots are much better than humans.

Hit-and-run driver strikes pedestrian, tossing her into path of Cruise car in San Francisco

The video footage presented to the department ended with the [car's] initial stop following the hard-braking maneuver. Footage of the subsequent movement of the [car] to perform a pullover maneuver was not shown to the department and Cruise did not disclose that any additional movement of the vehicle occurred after the initial stop of the vehicle. “Ultimately, we develop and deploy autonomous vehicles in an effort to save lives,” Forghani said. DMV officials said that there is no set time frame for a suspension, but that the agency provided Cruise with “the steps needed to apply to reinstate its suspended permits.” It wasn’t immediately clear what those steps would include. The DMV originally gave Cruise a permit for 300 driverless vehicles in San Francisco, but it cut that number in half after one of its cars collided with a firetruck in August.

California DMV immediately suspends Cruise’s robotaxi permit

In particular, the DMV expressed concern over the incident earlier this month where a pedestrian crossing against a red light was struck by a human driven Nissan, and her body was thrown in front of the Cruise vehicle in the next lane. Cruise revealed today that after it came to a stop, the vehicle decided to pull to the side of the road to avoid blocking traffic. In doing so, it dragged the victim to the side and came to a stop with the wheel upon the pedestrian’s leg.

Rules to allow testing without a driver and deployment of autonomous vehicles were subsequently adopted and took effect on April 2, 2018. Regulations allowing for light-duty autonomous delivery vehicles weighing less than 10,001 pounds were approved on Dec. 16, 2019. Over 10 years ago, I outlined a situation very much like this, advising that a robotaxi should make special effort to assure it never obliviously drags a vulnerable road user.

General Motors' robotaxi service Cruise has been barred from testing driverless vehicles on public roads in California. The California Department of Motor Vehicles says Cruise withheld footage of one of its cars dragging away an injured pedestrian after they were knocked into its path during a hit-and-run. But while Cruise was approved to give rides in its fully driverless vehicles without safety drivers, Waymo only is allowed to deploy its autonomous vehicles with a human monitor behind the wheel. In order to give rides to paying passengers in its fully driverless vehicles, as it does in Arizona, the Google spinoff would need to apply for an additional permit from the California Public Utilities Commission. “The AV [autonomous vehicle] braked aggressively before impact and because it detected a collision, it attempted to pull over to avoid further safety issues,” Forghani said. “When the AV tried to pull over, it continued before coming to a final stop, pulling the pedestrian forward.

While the DMV is particularly upset by their belief that they were shown the partial story, that should get resolved, and the real issue is whether the vehicle is unsafe, unless some deliberate deception can be shown. However, if the DMV assertion is correct—and Cruise certainly never mentioned these elements to me in my discussions with them—Cruise has lost a great deal of credibility by not being front and center about this issue. Cruise states that this is incorrect, and they showed the entire video “multiple times” to the DMV. When I witnessed the video, I deliberately requested not to be shown the impact parts as they did not relate to my coverage of what took place before. Grace Toohey is a reporter at the Los Angeles Times covering breaking news for the Fast Break Desk.

Before joining the newsroom in 2022, she covered criminal justice issues at the Orlando Sentinel and the Advocate in Baton Rouge. Cruise was founded in San Francisco in 2013 as one of a generation of startups dedicated to making driverless technology a reality. Cruise said it will continue to cooperate with an investigation by the California DMV. The DMV’s announcement came during a previously-scheduled meeting of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, where local fire officials among others testified before the local agency.