Citing public safety concerns about Cruise's robotaxi line operating in San Francisco, California DMV officials announced Tuesday that the agency had suspended permits for driverless cars deployed by General Motors' self-driving vehicle subsidiary.
Cruise had already been investigated by federal and state transportation officials after several accidents, some of them involving pedestrians. In response to the Department of Motor Vehicles' decision, Cruise removed its driverless vehicles from California roads.
“Public safety remains the California DMV's top priority, and the department's autonomous vehicle regulations provide a framework to facilitate the safe testing and deployment of this technology on California's public roadways,” the agency said in a statement. . “When there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the DMV may immediately suspend or revoke permits.”
DMV officials cited violations of state regulations for the suspension, including safety issues based on the vehicles' performance and safety information that has been misrepresented by the “manufacturer.” The suspension order said Cruise failed to disclose all relevant video of an Oct. 2 crash, initially showing only the first portion of the crash to investigating state officials, omitting the portion in which Cruise's vehicle dragged a pedestrian. about 20 feet while pinned below. the driverless vehicle. Cruise officials, in a statement to the Times, denied failing to share all of the video with investigators.
DMV officials said there is no set deadline for a suspension, but that the agency provided Cruise with “the necessary steps to request reinstatement of his suspended permits.” It was not immediately clear what those steps would include.
The suspension does not affect Cruise's permission to test its autonomous vehicles with a safety driver behind the wheel, according to the DMV.
Cruise officials said in a statement that after learning of the suspension, they would pause operation of their driverless vehicles in San Francisco. Cruise also operates robotaxis in Austin, Texas; Houston; Phoenix; Miami; and some other cities, said Cruise spokeswoman Navideh Forghani. She said operations in other regions would not be affected by California's suspension.
“Ultimately, we develop and use autonomous vehicles in an effort to save lives,” Forghani said.
The suspension came after the DMV reviewed the Oct. 2 crash, in which a non-Cruise driver first struck a pedestrian, pushing him into the path of a Cruise robotaxi. The Cruise vehicle ended up pinning and dragging the pedestrian, causing multiple traumatic injuries, authorities said. The other vehicle fled. Cruise said he continues to cooperate with police in the case.
“The A.V. [autonomous vehicle] “It braked aggressively before impact and as it detected a collision, it attempted to stop to avoid further safety issues,” Forghani said. “When the AV attempted to stop, it continued before stopping permanently, pushing the pedestrian forward. Our thoughts remain with the victim as we hope for a quick and complete recovery.
“Our teams are currently conducting an analysis to identify potential improvements to the AV's response to this extremely rare type of event,” he said.
But there were other incidents that also led to investigations, including an accident in August when a Cruise vehicle drove into the path of a fire truck, causing a crash and injuring the Cruise vehicle's passenger. The day after that accident, the DMV announced its investigation into the vehicles and said Cruise would reduce the size of its fleet.
First responders in San Francisco have also complained that autonomous vehicles have repeatedly interfered with emergency vehicles and caused other incidents, especially after the state approved a massive expansion of cars in August.
This month, one of Cruise's main competitors, Waymo, owned by Alphabet, Google's parent company, expanded its self-driving vehicles to Los Angeles amid growing concern.
Amid Cruise's suspension announcement on Tuesday, union and city leaders in Los Angeles and San Francisco demonstrated in front of Cruise and Waymo buildings, calling for an end to what they called “robotaxi chaos.”
“The rollout of these robotaxis hasn't gone well in San Francisco, and they certainly aren't going to work here in Los Angeles,” said Lindsay Dougherty, leader of Teamsters Local 399, a union that represents a variety of drivers. “This is not just about jobs, but also about the safety of our communities.”
The meetings in both cities questioned Gov. Gavin Newsom's recent veto of a bill that would have required safe human drivers in autonomous heavy-duty trucks, which are not yet on the roads but could be soon. Newsom said he trusted the DMV to regulate the rapidly changing industry.
Staff writer Russ Mitchell contributed to this report.
