California halts operations of Cruise self-driving robotaxis

Table Of Content

• Hit-and-run driver strikes pedestrian, tossing her into path of Cruise car in San Francisco
• Cruise gets the green light to give driverless rides to passengers in San Francisco
• Online Testing
• DMV Statement on Cruise LLC Suspension
• Former HGTV star slapped with $10 million fine and jail time for real estate fraud
• Registration Card Replacement

"So removing the safety driver isn't actually about safety, removing the safety driver is about public perception and keeping your investors happy and things like this. SAN FRANCISCO – The California Department of Motor Vehicles announced Tuesday that the agency has suspended permits of autonomous vehicle firm Cruise LLC. Cruise has released a breakdown of an incident involving one of its autonomous vehicles (AVs) and a San Franciscan that the DMV is investigating – the crash in which someone was run over after being hit by another car.

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

For now, Cruise only operates in San Francisco, Austin, and Phoenix, but is currently testing in at least 10 other U.S. cities, including San Diego and Nashville. Analysts have previously said that AV industry as a whole is expected to generate hundreds of billions of dollars of revenue before the end of the decade. Phil Koopman, a Carnegie Mellon University professor of computer science who has studied AVs extensively and has often pointed out that while Cruise underscores how much safer their vehicles are than humans, happened to be one of those speaking before the SFCTA. Before the suspension was even announced, Teamsters and other labor groups rallied outside Cruise's San Francisco headquarters, highlighting their concerns over safety and jobs.

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

First responders initially had no idea the pedestrian was even hit by another car since it fled the scene, leaving many to believe the woman was hit solely by Cruise's driverless vehicle. The original video Cruise showed to media outlets proved the presence of a hit-and-run-driver, even though it neglected to show the aftermath of the accident when the Cruise vehicle dragged the pedestrian. "When the [car] tried to pull over, it continued before coming to a final stop, pulling the pedestrian forward," said Navideh Forghani, Cruise spokesperson. "Our teams are currently doing an analysis to identify potential enhancements to the [car’s] response to this kind of extremely rare event." Cruise's recent suspension, according to the DMV, stems not only from safety concerns, but also allegations the autonomous vehicle company failed to share critical information with state regulators about a recent accident involving one of its driverless taxis. The DMV launched its investigation following a collision between a Cruise vehicle and a San Francisco fire truck.

Online Testing

The suspension comes less than three months after Cruise, and competitor Waymo, received the final permit required to offer commercial robotaxi services across San Francisco 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That permit was issued by the California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates commercial driverless ride-hailing permits. However, without the DMV’s permits, which allow for driverless vehicles to be on public roads, the CPUC permit is essentially worthless.

"When there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the DMV can immediately suspend or revoke permits. There is no set time for a suspension." "This incident raises many serious concerns about the safety of these Cruise driverless vehicles," reads a San Francisco Fire Department report on the March incident published by Mission Local, a San Francisco news site. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved a measure to let robotaxi companies Cruise and Waymo massively expand deployment of their driverless vehicles on San Francisco streets. Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into Cruise citing pedestrian safety concerns.

Former HGTV star slapped with $10 million fine and jail time for real estate fraud

Pressure to suspend or revoke Cruise’s permits escalated after an October 2 incident that left a woman stuck underneath a Cruise robotaxi after being hit by a human-driven vehicle. Video captured by Cruise and viewed by TechCrunch showed a robotaxi braking and then running over a pedestrian who was lying in the street after being struck by a human-driven car and launched in front of the autonomous vehicle. Cruise said in its account of the events that the robotaxi “braked aggressively” to minimize impact. Still, the pedestrian was run over and then stuck under the vehicle, according to police as well as video from local bystanders that show the person under the robotaxi.

Registration Card Replacement

Last week, federal auto safety regulators announced they were investigating Cruise following pedestrian injuries. The probe, spearheaded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, was prompted by multiple reports involving pedestrian injuries and Cruise vehicles in recent months, and it concerns an estimated 594 self-driving Cruise vehicles, according to the filing. The news follows a barrage of safety concerns and incidents since Cruise, owned by General Motors, received approval in August for round-the-clock robotaxi service in San Francisco. Driverless testing permit holders must also report to the DMV any collisions involving a driverless test vehicle within 10 days and submit an annual report of disengagements. Phil Koopman, an expert in autonomous transportation at Carnegie Mellon University, told CBS News Bay Area that there is no reason autonomous vehicle companies should be testing their technology without a driver in the first place.

Commercial Driver Licenses

This month, one of Cruise’s top competitors, Waymo — owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company — expanded its driverless vehicles into Los Angeles amid growing concern. But there were other incidents that also prompted investigations, including an accident in August when a Cruise vehicle got in the way of a firetruck, causing a crash and injuring the Cruise vehicle’s passenger. The day after that crash, the DMV announced its investigation into the vehicles and said Cruise would roll back the size of its fleet. The cars sport turquoise lights on its rear-view mirrors, headlights, and taillights to let law enforcement and other drivers know when the car is operating autonomously. Drive Pilot is only available on select models that have the built-in hardware, including a sensor at the front of the car and a camera in the rear windshield.

Indefinite ban due to 'public safety'

"We learned today at 1030 PT of the California DMV’s suspension of our driverless permits. As a result, we will be pausing operations of our driverless AVs in San Francisco," a spokesperson told The Register. The agency allowed the use of the robotaxis in June last year but started to get cold feet about Cruise after a rash of incidents involving the computer-controlled cabs, cutting the size of its fleet this August. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has also launched an investigation after two such accidents involving pedestrians in San Francisco – one of whom at least was run over by a Cruise vehicle after being knocked down in a hit-and-run by a human motorist. "The video footage presented to the department ended with the [car's] initial stop following the hard-braking maneuver," the DMV noted in its suspension order. "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." The DMV, which is responsible for regulating autonomous vehicles across the state, issued its decision following a two-month long probe into Cruise's safety record after "recent concerning incidents."

One of those has since been sold, which marks the first sale of an autonomous Mercedes in California, according to the DMV. Select Mercedes dealerships in Nevada are also offering the cars with the new technology, known as “level 3” autonomous driving. Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it was investigating Cruise after receiving reports of incidents where the company's autonomous vehicles not using proper caution around pedestrians in roadways. "Ultimately, we develop and deploy autonomous vehicles in an effort to save lives," the company said in a statement. There is one spot of good news for Cruise; cars with a human safety driver behind the wheel can still operate. However, that rather defeats the whole point of the biz's self-driving vehicle project - getting rid of the driver - although useful training data can be gathered while roaming the streets of California cities with a person at the wheel.

Drivers can activate Mercedes’s technology, called Drive Pilot, when certain conditions are met, including in heavy traffic jams, during the daytime, on specific California and Nevada freeways, and when the car is traveling less than 40 mph. Drivers can focus on other activities until the vehicle alerts them to resume control. The technology does not work on roads that haven’t been pre-approved by Mercedes, including on freeways in other states. Since the California Public Utilities Commission’s August decision to allow Cruise and its primary rival, Waymo, to offer paid services 24 hours a day in San Francisco, Cruise cars have been involved in a number of incidents. Shortly after the DMV's announcement, Cruise said it will be pausing operations of their autonomous vehicles in San Francisco. The DMV declared such in response to an incident earlier this month, wherein a Cruise AV in San Francisco hit a pedestrian who was knocked into its path by another vehicle.

According to statements from Cruise and the DMV, the hit-and-run took place on Oct. 2 in San Francisco. In an order of suspension it sent to Cruise on Tuesday, the California DMV wrote that a Cruise team failed to disclose the full details of the collision to the it and members of California Highway Patrol at a meeting Oct. 3. According to police, the Cruise vehicle then braked, with its rear tire still on top of the woman’s leg. After Cruise disabled the vehicle, rescuers were able to get the vehicle off the woman’s leg using the jaws of life. By Andrew J. Hawkins, transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) website uses Google™ Translate to provide automatic translation of its web pages.

Expert explains what's next for Cruise as California DMV suspends driverless car permits - KGO-TV

Expert explains what's next for Cruise as California DMV suspends driverless car permits.

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

Enforcement against Cruise raises questions about the fate of competing driving automation programs, such as that of Waymo, as well as less-capable assists such as Tesla's Full Self-Driving. Tesla specifically faces a court case regarding the performance of its Autopilot system, which is expected to be sent to a jury Tuesday according to Reuters. In addition, other companies watching this situation should now go back and run their own track tests and digital simulations to assure they do well in this situation.

The DMV also noted that the permit revocation for AV use does not prohibit operation with a human safety driver. While Cruise has had state authority to test autonomous vehicles with safety drivers since 2015, the new permit allows the company to test five autonomous vehicles without a driver behind the wheel on specified streets within San Francisco. The vehicles are designed to operate on roads with posted speed limits not exceeding 30 miles per hour, during all times of the day and night, but will not test during heavy fog or heavy rain.

That prompted some San Francisco city officials to formally request that state regulators redo an August hearing that expanded robotaxi permits for Cruise and Waymo. Cruise officials said in a statement that, after learning about the suspension, it would pause the operation of its driverless vehicles in San Francisco. Cruise also operates robotaxis in Austin, Texas; Houston; Phoenix; Miami; and a few other cities, Cruise spokesperson Navideh Forghani said.