California Suspends License for GM Cruise Autonomous Vehicles Following Two Incidents
If autonomous vehicles have made the headlines a little less in recent months, that does not mean that all companies have abandoned the idea. This is the case for certain companies which are continuing development and which are also testing fleets of autonomous vehicles. This is the case of GM with her Cruise division and of Waymo (Google) which has introduced autonomous electric taxis in San Francisco since last year, which has sparked increasingly intense debates about the progress they bring and the risks they present.
However, we learned that the state of California has suspended the license of GM’s Cruise division because it claims their vehicles are unsafe, and that company officials have concealed facts by recounting details of a recent accident involving a pedestrian. According to a press release, the California Motor Vehicle Agency (DMV) notified the subsidiary of General Motors that it was “suspending Cruise’s autonomous vehicle deployment and driverless testing permits, effective immediately.”
Several incidents already
The suspension follows several high-profile accidents in the San Francisco area, a collision with a fire truck and another that seriously injured a pedestrian.
In one particular incident, a pedestrian landed in front of Cruise’s autonomous vehicle after being hit by another car. The robotaxi braked suddenly, but rolled over the person. The vehicle then attempted to pull over safely, but continued to drive for 20 feet at a slower speed with the pedestrian still under the car.
The Department of Motor Vehicles claims Cruise failed to disclose this information and, more importantly, the video of the attempted parking maneuver. The agency said it learned of the vehicle’s subsequent movement through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and then asked Cruise to provide the additional footage. The company’s omission hinders the agency’s ability to evaluate the safety of its autonomous vehicles, the Department of Motor Vehicles said.
According to GM, “fundamentally, we are developing and deploying autonomous vehicles with the goal of saving lives,” Cruise said in an email.
Our opinion
Autonomous vehicles are still making headlines, especially as several companies plan to deploy them in more cities.
