It was a week of robotaxi mayhem in San Francisco for self-driving car company Cruise, at once strange, comical and alarming.
As a result, the California Department of Motor Vehicles said Friday that it is investigating “recent and concerning incidents” involving Cruise vehicles as it puts the brakes on the company's ambitious expansion plans.
The DMV did not say what incidents it is investigating, but over a seven-day period the events included:
— The strange thing is, when a group of Cruise robotaxis drove together into the city's North Beach district on the night of August 11, they froze in place, sat for 15 minutes blocking an intersection, and then drove on. Cruise blamed cell phone service.
— The funny thing, when a Cruise robotaxi ignored construction signs Tuesday and headed toward a concrete patch. Stuck in wet mud, it was later removed by workers sent by Cruise.
– Alarmingly, when a Cruise robotaxi entered an intersection with a green light, even as a fast-moving fire truck approached, lights flashing and siren blaring. The truck collided with the car, in which a passenger was traveling, who was taken to a hospital. Cruise said the passenger suffered “what we believe are not serious injuries.”
The day after the injury crash, the DMV announced its investigation and said Cruise agreed to cut the size of its fleet in half, to 50 robotaxis during the day and 150 at night. In a prepared statement, Cruise said he looks forward to working with the DMV and posted his side of the story online.
The company plans to populate the city with thousands of robotaxis. Another company, Waymo, has similar plans. Cruise is owned by General Motors, Alphabet's Waymo, Google's parent company.
The DMV did not say how long its investigation might take. Another DMV investigation, into whether Tesla falsely advertises its driver-assist technology as “fully autonomous driving,” has been ongoing for two years and three months.
The latest robotaxi incidents occurred on the heels of a controversial vote by the California Public Utilities Commission on August 10 to approve the massive expansion of robotaxis in San Francisco.
State lawmakers are fed up with the state of self-driving vehicle regulation in California. A bill is moving through the Legislature that would require life safety drivers in driverless trucks for at least the next five years. State Senator Lena Gonzalez has expressed her concerns about the way the DMV regulates Tesla safety.
DMV Director Steve Gordon, a former Silicon Valley executive, was appointed to the position by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Meanwhile, city officials in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Monica and elsewhere are frustrated by how little control they have over robotaxi deployment in their cities.
The CPUC voted 3-1 to approve the robotaxi expansion. The dissenting vote was cast by Genevieve Shiroma, who said she was not against robotaxis but that it made sense to resolve safety issues such as interference with emergency vehicles before the expansion was approved.
John Reynolds, whose previous job was as Cruise's chief lawyer, voted in favor of the expansion.
All five members of the CPUC were appointed by Newsom. Newsom's office declined to comment.
