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Watch A Driverless Cruise AV Get Pulled Over By The Police: Video

General Motors’ self-driving vehicle subsidiary Cruise is currently testing its fully driverless, Chevy Bolt EV-based autonomous test vehicles on public roads in San Francisco – with the state of California’s permission, of course. While Cruise has received the go-ahead from California officials to test its driverless AVs in the real world, the company is still beholden to all the same rules of the road as the general public is, meaning the company’s test cars can still be pulled over and given citations for driving infractions.

An Instagram user filmed a rather fascinating interaction between San Francisco’s finest and one of Cruise’s driverless AVs earlier this month. The video shows a Chevy Bolt EV-based autonomous test vehicle that has been pulled over by a police officer, who then gets out of his patrol car and approaches the driver’s side of the vehicle, assuming there will be a human behind the wheel. The police officer appears surprised to see that the vehicle is unmanned and is instead being driven by Cruise’s sophisticated algorithm. When he attempts to go back to his squad car, presumably to ask his higher-ups what to do in such a situation, the Cruise AV drives away before pulling over once again about 100 meters down the road.

A Cruise AV charging

A Twitter user shared a screen-captured version of the video on the social media platform over the weekend. Cruise responded to this tweet providing more information on this interaction with the SFPD and how Cruise handles such situations.

“Our AV yielded to the police vehicle, then pulled over to the nearest safe location for the traffic stop, as intended,” the company said in the tweet. “An officer contacted Cruise personnel and no citation was issued.”

We work closely with the SFPD on how to interact with our vehicles, including a dedicated phone number for them to call in situations like this,” the company added.

It’s not clear why the Cruise AV was pulled over to begin with, however the vehicle appears to not have its headlights or taillights on, as the rear lights only illuminate when the brakes are being applied. That said, there are countless minor driving infractions the SFPD may have pulled this particular Cruise AV over for, given the fact these vehicles are still in development and may be prone to making mistakes or experiencing software errors.

Cruise Origin AV

GM will apply lessons learned from the development of its Chevy Bolt EV-based test vehicles to the Cruise Origin, a self-driving robotaxi that will enter production at its Factory Zero plant in Michigan in 2023. In the meantime, Cruise will keep testing its Bolt EVs on public roads in San Francisco – hopefully with minimal interactions with law enforcement.

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Sam loves to write and has a passion for auto racing, karting and performance driving of all types.

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Comments

  1. Well, the AV didn’t have it’s lights on, that would be a legit reason for a stop..

    Reply
  2. looks like poppy was out at night trying to score some smack in the tenderloin.

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  3. Ah, dispatch. We have a chase here. Driver is wanted for…………………………..Ah, a driver is wanted. 10-80 in progress. Dispatch, we have the car stopped 100 meters ahead. Send backup. We’ll be searching for the driver.

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  4. Impound it and tow away.

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    1. That is the most likely out come

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  5. “That said, there are countless minor driving infractions the SFPD may have pulled this particular Cruise AV over for, given the fact these vehicles are still in development and may be prone to making mistakes or experiencing software errors.” .Excuses Excuses.

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    1. It will only be a matter of time before one of these drones injure or kill someone. Let’s see how it’s spun then.

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      1. Already happened with an Uber test vehicle in Tempe, Arizona. Worst part of it was there was a driver that could have taken over but was too busy watching TV on their phone.

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  6. I done got a great idea!! Let’s make cars for people to drive!

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  7. Thanks again Sam Mc, another exhilarating article! You and J Lo never disappoint!

    Reply
  8. When the vehicle pulled away, cops should have busted out the windows and put the steering wheel in headlock! If these vehicles are unpredictable, that is not acceptable on public streets.

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  9. Oh come on folks, this is funny. Unlike Tesla’s there hasn’t been one fatality’ not even for a battery fire. Gm’s engineering team is doing a great job with what the darn bean counters are allowing them to work with. Let’s see if an ICE car could do the driverless job as good as this simple Chevy Bolt could. Tesla’s cannot and supposedly they are the highest valued car company in the world even beating out Toyota.

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  10. Those are a menace, keep them off of the road!

    Reply

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