Back in August 2023, GM Authority reported that General Motors’ self-driving subsidiary Cruise had crossed the 4 million driverless miles mark. Now, the autonomous vehicle company has officially hit the 5 million driverless-mile threshold.
While announcing that Cruise will expand to Japan by early 2026, General Motors also mentioned that the self-driving subsidiary had crossed the 5 million driverless-mile mark through its operations in San Francisco, Austin and Phoenix, collecting more than 100,000 five-star reviews in the process.
Of course, GM Authority recently covered that the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) had suspended Cruise’s deployment of Cruise AV units, along with its driverless testing permits in San Francisco. For background on the suspension in particular, the California DMV cited the violation of four statutes that lead it to take this drastic action.
“Public safety remains the California DMV’s top priority, and the department’s autonomous vehicle regulations provide a framework to facilitate the safe testing and deployment of this technology on California public roads,” a statement from the California DMV read. “When there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the DMV can immediately suspend or revoke permits. There is no set time for a suspension.”
Interestingly, Cruise had previously announced a series of technology upgrades before the California DMV’s decision. After these updates, Cruise AV units will hopefully be able to better identify and avoid emergency vehicles and equipment.
In response to the suspension, Cruise released the following statement: “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.”
Cruise LLC also announced its decision to pause all driverless operations for the time being, although rides will still be offered with a safety driver on board.
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Comments
May want to think about using the word “hits” in the title.
California has shut down Cruise for causing a horrendous crash
California suspended driverless vehicles operated by the General Motors subsidiary Cruise in the city of San Francisco—just two months after the state began allowing the robotaxis to pick up paying passengers around the clock. The suspension stems from a gruesome incident on October 2 in which a human-driven vehicle hit a female pedestrian and threw her into the path of a Cruise car. The driverless Cruise car hit her, stopped, and then tried to pull over, dragging her approximately 20 feet.
California’s Department of Motor Vehicles says in a statement that it has determined that Cruise’s vehicles are not safe for public operation, and that the company ”misrepresented” safety information about its autonomous vehicle technology. In a filing on the suspension, the agency says that Cruise initially provided footage showing only the collision between its vehicle and the woman. It says Cruise did not disclose information about its car’s subsequent “pull-over maneuver” that dragged the woman after the initial impact, and that the DMV only obtained full footage nine days after the crash.
Cruise spokesperson Navideh Forghani says Cruise has stayed in close contact with regulators but disputed the DMV’s timeline. She says the agency was shown video of the entire incident, including the pull-over, the day after the crash. The DMV says Cruise will either have to appeal its decision or provide information about how it has addressed its technology’s “deficiencies” in order to win back its permit.
It is time to retire obsolete SuperCruise and provide to customers UltraCruise. GM, get on with the program!
We’ve had driverless vehicle for years and years and years it’s called the bus or the train why do we need these things clogging up the roads
5 million too many!