California’s regulator said on Friday it is investigating “recent concerning incidents” involving Cruise robotaxi in San Francisco, these Cruise self-driving car are operated by General Motors (GM.N) unit Cruise in San Francisco.
General Motors self-driving car
A Cruise robotaxi hit a San Francisco Fire Department vehicle which was on the way to an emergency call. One passenger with non-severe injuries was taken to a hospital via ambulance.
The statement from regulator of California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) came after a Cruise robotaxi was involved in a crash with an emergency vehicle in San Francisco late on Thursday, the latest accident involving the Cruise self-driving cars.
California regulator decision
The California regulator also said it has asked Cruise to immediately reduce its active fleet of Cruise robotaxi vehicles by 50% until the investigation is complete and Cruise takes actions to improve road safety. Company has agreed to a 50% reduction of Cruise robotaxi, it added.
“The DMV reserves the right, following investigation of the facts, to suspend or revoke testing and/or deployment permits” if it is determined to be an unreasonable risk to public safety, as per California regulators.
Cruise said one of its driver-less cars in San Francisco “entered the intersection on a green light and was struck by an emergency vehicle that appeared to be en route to an emergency scene” after 10 p.m. on Thursday (0500 GMT Friday).
Cruise self-driving car risk
The Cruise self-driving car “did identify the risk of a collision and initiated a braking maneuver, reducing its speed, but was ultimately unable to avoid the collision,” the company, which is investigating the incident, said in a statement on Friday.
Initial investigation shows the collision of the Cruise robotaxi in San Francisco occurred when a fire truck was operating in an emergency with its forward facing red lights and siren on, as per the San Francisco Police Department.
As per police, the sole passenger in the General Motors self-driving car was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Cruise Robotaxi on San Francisco roads
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) last week voted to allow robotaxis from Cruise and Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Waymo to operate at all hours of the day throughout San Francisco and charge passengers for rides despite strong opposition from residents and city agencies.
The two have been running Cruise robotaxi tests limited by times and geographic areas within San Francisco.
Cruise’s self-driving car halt in expansion
City Attorney David Chiu asked the CPUC on Thursday to halt its decision while the city files for a re-hearing. “We have seen that this technology is not yet ready, and poor AV performance has interfered with the life-saving operations of first responders. San Francisco will suffer serious harms from this unfettered expansion,” he said in a statement.
