California DMV Suspends Cruise’s Driverless Taxis in San Francisco for Withholding Crash Footage
The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has suspended Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, from operating its driverless taxis in San Francisco. The suspension comes after Cruise allegedly withheld footage of a severe crash involving one of its robotaxis.
The incident, which resulted in severe injuries, occurred when a human driver crashed into a pedestrian crossing Market Street and propelled her into the path of an adjacent Cruise taxi before fleeing the scene. The authorities have not yet arrested the suspected human motorist responsible for the crash.
According to the DMV’s Order of Suspension, Cruise’s handling of the October 2 crash prompted the state regulators to take action. The DMV alleged that Cruise representatives initially did not provide the entirety of the onboard camera footage captured by the robotaxi involved in the crash. The provided footage only showed the Cruise robotaxi braking hard after the collision. However, subsequent footage obtained from Cruise by the DMV revealed that the robotaxi performed a “pullover maneuver” after the impact.
The DMV argues that this maneuver suggests that Cruise’s vehicles may lack the ability to respond appropriately during incidents involving pedestrians, putting them at risk of further harm. Cruise, on the other hand, claimed that it showed the complete video of the incident multiple times to DMV investigators and later provided a copy of the complete video upon request.
As a result of the suspension, Cruise is no longer allowed to use its driverless taxis without a human driver present, whether during paid rides or for free. However, the company can still test its technology with a safety driver.
This suspension follows a recent surge in crashes involving Cruise robotaxis. A week after obtaining regulatory approval to operate their driverless rides at all hours in San Francisco, the DMV ordered Cruise to reduce its fleet by half to investigate these incidents.
The emergence of autonomous vehicles in San Francisco has faced mixed reactions from residents and city officials. Fire officials expressed concerns over occasional erratic behavior by driverless taxis interfering with emergency response efforts. Transportation officials also criticized self-driving cars for impeding public transit and causing traffic disruptions.
While the suspension validates concerns raised by city officials, residents of San Francisco have increasingly embraced the technology in recent months. Both Cruise and Waymo, owned by Alphabet, have reported tens of thousands of users in the city.
Cruise has stated its commitment to cooperation with regulators and plans to introduce technological upgrades to its robotaxis, aiming to enhance their emergency response capabilities.
The DMV’s suspension means that only Waymo’s robotaxis will be available for driverless rides in San Francisco, as Cruise’s driverless operations are on hold. The DMV emphasized that public safety remains its top priority and that it will take immediate action when there is an unreasonable risk to public safety.
The suspension will remain in effect until Cruise addresses the deficiencies and requests a hearing to reinstate its deployment permit. A hearing would be granted within 21 days of the request.