The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has announced the suspension of Cruise‘s driverless vehicles after a hit-and-run incident where a woman was further injured by the autonomous vehicle’s (AV) safety manoeuvre response to the crash.
A human driver struck the woman with their car in downtown San Francisco which pushed her into the path of a Cruise robotaxi.
The General Motors-owned AV company addressed the crash in a statement, saying:
“In the incident being reviewed by the DMV, a human hit and run driver tragically struck and propelled the pedestrian into the path of the AV. The AV braked aggressively before impact and because it detected a collision, it attempted to pull over to avoid further safety issues. When the AV tried to pull over, it continued before coming to a final stop, pulling the pedestrian forward.”
The California DMV has consequently decided to suspend the permit for Cruise AV deployment and driverless testing permits with immediate effect.
The DMV has provided Cruise with the steps needed to apply to reinstate its suspended permits, which the DMV will not approve until the company has fulfilled the requirements to the department’s satisfaction.
The suspension is based on the department’s observation that the manufacturer’s vehicles are not safe for the public’s operation and the company have misrepresented information related to the safety of the autonomous technology of its vehicles. NBC News released the following video below about the incident.
