The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has revoked Cruise’s driverless testing permits in San Francisco, with the move driven by escalating safety concerns.
The department stated on Oct. 24 that the company’s autonomous vehicles (AVs) are “not safe for the public’s operation” and accused its officials of “misrepresenting” safety information.
An “immediate suspension is required for the safety of persons on a public road,” the California DMV stated.
The department has informed Cruise of a list of steps that are required to restore its permit but didn’t disclose the specifics.
In August, Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors Co. (GM), received approval to begin testing its self-driving cars—commonly known as robotaxis—around the clock in San Francisco. The company has been in the spotlight since then because of a series of accidents involving its AVs.
The company’s operations have come under increased scrutiny after several high-profile collisions with other vehicles and pedestrians.
In April, GM recalled 300 Cruise AVs after one of the vehicles crashed into the back of a San Francisco bus. A software issue caused the crash, according to Cruise, and the recalled vehicles were updated.
At the time, the company said that the collision was caused by “an issue related to prediction of the unique movements of articulated vehicles.”
Cruise had previously agreed to reduce its fleet size by half in late August, merely a week after receiving DMV approval to test its fleet, following two accidents involving its vehicles and amid mounting concerns from California regulators.
In response, Cruise agreed to limit its deployment to a maximum of 50 driverless cars during the daytime and 150 during nighttime operations.
Subsequent accidents, this time involving pedestrians, prompted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Oct. 16 to launch its own safety investigation, which is ongoing.
Cruise’s vehicles were involved in at least three accidents, resulting in two injuries, according to information that the DMV provided in an August statement. This further fueled concerns about the safety of the company’s autonomous vehicles on California roads.
Cruise currently operates about 600 autonomous vehicles in various cities across the United States.
Cruise ‘Pausing Operations’
Cruise “will be pausing operations of our driverless AVs in San Francisco” as a result of the permit suspension, the company announced in a statement on Oct. 24.“Our teams are currently doing an analysis to identify potential enhancements to the AV’s response to this kind of extremely rare event,” Cruise stated in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The company stated that it develops and deploys “autonomous vehicles in an effort to save lives.”
In early October, a woman became trapped under a Cruise AV in San Francisco and was rescued only after first responders arrived at the site.
A human-driven Nissan Sentra initially struck the pedestrian in the crosswalk when the light turned green. In a blog post, Cruise noted that the woman entered the crosswalk “against a red light.”
On Oct. 24, Cruise stated that “[the AV] involved in the incident aggressively braked before impact and, upon detecting a collision, attempted to pull over to mitigate further safety issues.”
The AV dragged the woman 20 feet across the ground as it attempted to pull over, effectively pinning her under its rear axle as it came to a stop and activated its hazard lights.
San Francisco firefighters arrived at the scene and successfully lifted the car off of the woman.
It was only after firefighters deliberately interfered with the driverless car’s sensors that the Cruise control center was alerted to the situation and subsequently disabled the vehicle remotely.
The woman suffered “multiple traumatic injuries” and was transported to a hospital.
“Our thoughts continue to be with the victim as we hope for a rapid and complete recovery,” Cruise stated on Oct. 24.
Cruise “proactively shared information,” including the full video footage, with the California DMV, California Public Utilities Commission, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the company stated.
Despite having its driverless testing permits revoked, Cruise maintains authorization to conduct tests on California roads with human drivers in the vehicles, although authorities will continue to closely monitor these activities.
