As previously covered by GM Authority, General Motors’ self-driving subsidiary Cruise had its driverless testing permits suspended in San Francisco by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Now, the autonomous driving company is being closely monitored in Arizona.
According to a report from Reuters, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) is closely monitoring the testing and use of Cruise AV units in the state. In a statement, the department said, “When needed to safeguard public safety, ADOT will make any needed adjustments to a company’s ability to test and operate self-driving vehicles in Arizona.”
For background on the aforementioned San Francisco suspension, the California DMV stated that Cruise had violated four statutes, and claimed that the company had “misrepresented” the safety of the autonomous driving technology.
“The California DMV today notified Cruise that the department is suspending Cruise’s autonomous vehicle deployment and driverless testing permits, effective immediately,” the California DMV’s statement read. “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. This decision does not impact the company’s permit for testing with a safety driver.”
In response, Cruise stated the following: “We learned today at 10:30 am PT of the California DMV’s suspension of our driverless permits. As a result, we will be pausing operations of our driverless AVs in San Francisco.”
The self-driving subsidiary went on to explain that when one of its robotaxi units ran over a pedestrian that had just been stuck by a human-driven vehicle, the Cruise AV unit attempted to pull over to avoid additional safety issues and unintentionally dragged the pedestrian further forward before coming to a stop.
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Comments
Ban these menaces now! The SF pedestrian issue could have been avoided with a live driver.
Really this. Imagine what the pedestrian was feeling as they were dragged by the cruise car after being hit by someone else. Gruesome really doesn’t cover it. I’ve said it before, they (and other AV companies) are using you and me as guinea pigs. I hope the pedestrian sues cruise out of existence.
Except it was a live human driver who hit the pedestrian in the first place and left the scene. So apparently you feel that’s more appropriate?
So if my neighbor’s dog bites me and walks off only to have another neighbor’s dog knock me over and chew me up so more, I should have no issues with the second neighbor?
And I forgot to add, cruise purposely omitted from the original video info submitted to california the minutes where cruise drug the pedestrian. Accidental? I don’t think so.
The Trump affect.
Deflect, stick to the subject, the drone ran over a person lying in the street. End of story.
If a “live driver” is the answer to avoiding accidents then how was the pedestrian hit in the first place by a “live driver”
Just asking!
Turn them into carnival rides for amusement parks and county fairs.
This morning, The Sun in the UK is reporting GM is ceasing all Cruise operations in all cities effective immediately. Not sure if it’s accurate.
Great news. Next gm should sell the division whole there are companies dumb enough to buy it.
Another colossal waste of money!