The California automotive regulator has announced that it is investigating "recent concerning incidents" involving autonomous vehicles operated by General Motors' unit, Cruise, in San Francisco, and has asked the company to remove half of its robotaxis from the roads.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles released a statement on Friday after a Cruise robotaxi was involved in a collision with a fire truck in San Francisco on Thursday, the latest accident involving autonomous cars.
The regulator has also requested that Cruise immediately reduce its active fleet of vehicles by 50% until the investigation is complete and that Cruise takes measures to improve road safety. Cruise has agreed to the 50% reduction, the regulator added.
"The DMV reserves the right, after investigating the facts, to suspend or revoke test and/or deployment permits" if it is determined to pose an unreasonable risk to public safety, the regulator said in a statement.
Cruise stated that one of its cars "entered the intersection with a green light and was hit by an emergency vehicle that seemed to be on its way to an emergency scene" after 10 p.m. on Thursday.
The car "identified the risk of collision and initiated a braking maneuver, reducing its speed, but ultimately could not avoid the collision," the company, which is investigating the incident, stated in a statement issued on Friday.
Initial investigation shows that the collision occurred when a fire truck was on an emergency operation with its red lights and sirens on, the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement to Reuters.
The police reported that the only passenger in the autonomous vehicle was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The California Public Utilities Commission voted last week to allow Cruise and Alphabet's Waymo robotaxis to operate around the clock throughout San Francisco and charge passengers for rides, despite strong opposition from residents and city agencies.
Both companies have been conducting limited robotaxi tests in terms of schedules and geographic areas within San Francisco.
City Attorney David Chiu called on the California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday to halt its decision while the city files a request for reconsideration. "We have seen that this technology is not yet ready and that the poor performance of autonomous vehicles has interfered with the operations of first responders. San Francisco will suffer serious harm from this uncontrolled expansion," he said in a statement.
Originally posted at Liga Legal®
