The California Department of Motor Vehicles has immediately suspended Cruz from operating its driverless taxis in San Francisco.
The DMV, one of the state’s regulators for self-driving cars, said there is no timeline for the suspension. This time, the DMV says the suspension of Cruze’s driverless app was based on a determination that “the manufacturer’s vehicles are not safe for public operation.”
The DMV’s suspension means that Cruise cannot use its robotaxis without a human driver, either for free or during paid rides. The company is still allowed to test its technology with a safety driver.
Cruise and Waymo both received regulatory approval in August to commercially operate their robotaxis around the clock in San Francisco. However, after investigating several recent accidents involving cruise robotaxis, the DMV ordered its fleet reduced by half a week after the approved expansion.
According to the DMV, the San Francisco-based company “misrepresented” information to regulators regarding the safety of its vehicles’ driverless technology.
The suspension comes weeks after a driverless cruise taxi was involved in a crash that seriously injured a pedestrian crossing Fifth and Market streets in downtown San Francisco.
The incident, the first serious-injury AV-related crash in San Francisco, happened after a human driver hit a woman crossing Market Street and threw her into the path of a nearby cruise taxi before running off.
General Motors’ Cruise autonomous vehicles are parked in the San Francisco area in June. The California DMV has suspended driverless rides across the city.
Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesThe DMV has not said how the Oct. 2 crash turned out in its investigation. In a statement Tuesday morning, Cruise confirmed it was suspending driverless operations in San Francisco.
“Ultimately, we are building and deploying autonomous vehicles in an effort to save lives,” Cruise said in a statement. “In the incident reviewed by the DMV, a hit-and-run driver fatally struck and drove a pedestrian into the AV’s path. The AV braked aggressively prior to impact, and as it detected a collision, it attempted to pull over to avoid further safety issues. As the AV attempted to pull over, it came to a final stop. Continued earlier, pulling the pedestrian forward.
The DMV says it outlined to Cruz “steps to apply to reinstate its suspended permits,” but did not elaborate on what those were.
This year has been full of both milestones and setbacks in the burgeoning autonomous vehicle industry in San Francisco, where General Motors-owned Cruise and Alphabet-owned Waymo have tried to prove their robotaxis can operate safely and profitably.
An Aug. 10 decision by the California Public Utilities Commission allowed Cruise and Waymo to charge for fully driverless rides throughout San Francisco at all hours, while both companies expand to other cities.
While the technology is booming elsewhere, robotaxis in San Francisco — a notoriously challenging environment for drivers, humans and robots alike — have divided residents and city officials since last year’s surge in driverless operations.
Fire officials have criticized the technology because the occasional erratic behavior of driverless taxis interferes with emergency response efforts. Transportation officials say self-driving cars are disrupting public transportation, transit and construction on local streets.
The DMV, which issues the necessary permits for AV companies to operate commercially in California, opened an investigation into Cruz a week after the CPUC’s decision, citing conflicts involving the companies’ taxis.
“Public safety remains the California DMV’s top priority, and the department’s autonomous vehicle regulations provide a framework for the safe testing and deployment of this technology on California public roads,” the DMV said in its statement. “When there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the DMV may immediately suspend or revoke permits.”
This story will be updated.
Reach Ricardo Cano: [email protected]; Twitter: @ByRicardoCano
