California DMV suspends Cruises robotaxi permit effective immediately

Table Of Content

• DMV documents reveal reasons behind suspension
• NBC Bay Area investigation delved into safety record of driverless cars
• Driver License or Identification Card Changes
• Massive expansion of driverless robotaxis approved for San Francisco despite public safety concerns
• Former HGTV star slapped with $10 million fine and jail time for real estate fraud
• Electric and hybrid vehicles could lose California carpool access. What you need to know
• Vehicle Industry Svcs. Resources
• Federal regulators open probe into Cruise after pedestrian injury reports

AVs registered in California traveled approximately 1.99 million miles in autonomous mode on public roads in 2020. The total miles driven by Waymo and Cruise, 1.39 million, is 70 percent of the total autonomous miles driven in California in 2020. Driverless cars run by Cruise, which is owned by GM, and Waymo, which is owned by Alphabet, have been involved in numerous mishaps in the city over the past several months. The suspension does not affect Waymo, the other company with a permit for a driverless taxi fleet.

Cruise will reduce robotaxi fleet by 50% in San Francisco while California DMV investigates ‘incidents’ - CNBC

Cruise will reduce robotaxi fleet by 50% in San Francisco while California DMV investigates ‘incidents’.

Posted: Sat, 19 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

DMV documents reveal reasons behind suspension

As of earlier this year, the company was losing nearly $7 million a day, according to GM’s earnings report. Following the incident, Cruise reached out to several government agencies, including the California DMV, the California Public Utilities Commission that regulates commercial ridehail, and NHTSA. The company shared the video from its vehicle of the incident with investigators and is answering their questions, Lindow said.

NBC Bay Area investigation delved into safety record of driverless cars

Emergency crews instructed Cruise not to move the vehicle, and quite some time later lifted it off her to get her to hospital. The California DMV has ordered GM’s Cruise robotaxi unit to suspend autonomous vehicle operations declaring that Cruise’s vehicles are unsafe and that Cruise had misrepresented their safety level. Cruise said a Nissan Sentra in a lane next to one of its vehicles struck a pedestrian who entered a crosswalk against a red light.

Driver License or Identification Card Changes

"These are problems that we had been warning them about for a long time," John Bouchard of Teamsters Local 350 told CBS News Bay Area. "If they would have listened to us in the first place, or engaged with us, or engaged with city officials before they were making those decisions, things would have turned out very differently." The DMV said the Cruise vehicle tried to do a pullover maneuver while the victim was underneath the car, and they only learned about it from another department.

“You shouldn’t make policy decisions without knowing how the safety is going to turn out,” he said. A Cruise, which is a driverless robot taxi, is seen during operation in San Francisco, California, USA on July 24, 2023. Cruise has faced increasing scrutiny since the California Public Utilities Commission allowed the company and rival Waymo to expand testing of their robotaxis in San Francisco. "Our thoughts continue to be with the victim as we hope for a rapid and complete recovery. The DMV says it has given Cruise a series of steps it must complete "to the department's satisfaction" before the license to operate is renewed. "My hope is as a result of this they can improve safety measures because we want to welcome this technology, but we need to do so responsibly and safely," San Francisco Mayor London Breed said.

Former HGTV star slapped with $10 million fine and jail time for real estate fraud

California DMV suspends permits for Cruise driverless robotaxis - CBS San Francisco

California DMV suspends permits for Cruise driverless robotaxis.

Posted: Tue, 24 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The decision comes after one of Cruise's autonomous vehicles was involved in a hit-and-run earlier this month. The California DMV said its vehicles "are not safe for the public's operation" and has accused the company of putting the safety of the public at risk by withholding certain information about the incident, which the company denies. Under state law established in 2012, the DMV is required to adopt regulations covering both the testing and public use of autonomous vehicles on California roadways. Regulations to allow testing with a safety driver behind the wheel took effect on Sept. 16, 2014.

U.S. customers can buy a yearly subscription of Drive Pilot in 2024 EQS sedans and S-Class car models for $2,500. Mercedes began selling level 3-enabled cars in its home country of Germany in May 2022. The European packages cost 5,000 to 7,000 euros ($5,300 and $7,500) for a three-year membership.

The roughly 20 second clip ended just after the Cruise vehicle came to a complete stop after striking the pedestrian. Neither the video nor Cruise's description of the incident at the time included any reference to the "pullover maneuver" that resulted in the vehicle dragging the pedestrian along a normally busy street within downtown San Francisco. In fact, a spokesperson for the company says the entire clip of the accident, including the portion showing the Cruise car dragging the pedestrian, was shown to DMV officials several times on Oct. 3, just one day after the accident. Cruise says several days later, when the DMV requested a copy of the video, Cruise provided DMV officials with the very same video it had shown DMV investigators just ten days earlier. It’s likely to conclude that the software in the Cruise vehicle was unaware the pedestrian was being dragged by their vehicle, as it seems unlikely the system would wish to get out of the lane in that situation. It’s possible that the vehicle’s urge to clear the lane relates to the number of complaints that have been lodged about Cruise vehicles blocking lanes, which would be a tragic irony.

The additional video was given to the DMV after a request was made, and they received it on Oct. 13. Following the CPUC's decision, Cruise agreed to a request by the DMV to cut their fleet of robotaxis in the city in half after two crashes, one of which involved an emergency vehicle. Generally, in chain-reaction road incidents, legal fault goes to the party that started the chain. In this case, however, the Cruise made an error after everything had stopped, which may arguably break that chain, though it would never be in that situation without the hit-and-run. The DMV’s concern could lie in the fact that this might happen even if the Cruise itself had first struck the pedestrian.

“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,” the agency states. The automaker’s chief technology officer Markus Schäfer expects that level 4 autonomous technology will be available to consumers by 2030, Automotive News reported. While humans are still expected to take control of the car based on the circumstances in level 3, level 4 technology is supposed to offer near-total autonomy. That means the technology must be able to safely respond to nearly all unexpected situations on the road. San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu praised the DMV's decision, saying it "vindicates the significant public safety concerns raised by the City." The city attorney urged the CPUC to come up with a "sensible, measured plan" for the vehicles. 13 CCR §227.42 (b)(5) - Any act or omission of the manufacturer or one of its agents, employees, contractors, or designees which the department finds makes the conduct of autonomous vehicle testing on public roads by the manufacturer an unreasonable risk to the public.

It should be noted that NHTSA opened its own investigation into Cruise’s autonomous vehicle system following several incidents involving pedestrians in San Francisco, including the October 2 event. Cruise had already been under investigation by federal and state transportation officials after several crashes, some involving pedestrians. In response to the Department of Motor Vehicles’ decision, Cruise pulled its driverless vehicles from the road in California. "When there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the DMV can immediately suspend or revoke permits," the DMV wrote in a statement. The luxury automaker has become the first in the nation to start selling self-driving cars—at least those that afford riders a hands-free experience—to regular consumers. As of April 11, there were 65 Mercedes autonomous vehicles available for sale in California, Fortune has learned through an open records request submitted to the state’s DMV.

“Ultimately, we develop and deploy autonomous vehicles in an effort to save lives,” Cruise said in an emailed statement. "When there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the DMV can immediately suspend or revoke permits," the California DMV said in a statement. In response, the company reduced the number of vehicles it had deployed by half while the city investigated the incident. And on October 2nd, a hit-and-run in San Francisco launched a pedestrian in front of a driverless Cruise vehicle, trapping her underneath for some time. The sales mark a new echelon of autonomous driving available to the average American.

First responders in San Francisco have also complained that the autonomous vehicles have repeatedly interfered with emergency vehicles and caused other incidents, especially after the state approved a massive expansion of the cars in August. San Francisco's police and fire departments have also said the cars aren't yet ready for public roads. They've tallied more than 55 incidents where self-driving cars have gotten in the way of rescue operations. Those incidents include driving through yellow emergency tape, blocking firehouse driveways, running over fire hoses and refusing to move for first responders. Sacramento – The California Department of Motor Vehicles today issued a permit to Cruise LLC, authorizing the company to test driverless vehicles on public roads in San Francisco. Cruise has faced increasing pushback in its pioneering test environment of San Francisco, where locals have sabotaged driverless test vehicles from Cruise and competitor Waymo (funded by Google owner Alphabet).

They have also been involved in a number of minor fender benders and rear-end collisions that have some residents worried about escalation as more are deployed. Following the incident, the National Highway Traffic Safety opened a safety investigation to determine whether Cruise’s driverless vehicles pose a risk to pedestrians. The company’s AVs are “encroaching” on pedestrians in crosswalks and elsewhere and could pose a risk to their safety, the agency said in its report.

Cruise said Tuesday that it was pausing operations and evaluating potential improvements, such as how it should handle events like an incident this month in which one of its cars drove over a pedestrian who had just been hit by a human driver. The DMV said that the suspension would take effect immediately and that it was acting to protect public safety. Cruise vehicles have been involved in a series of incidents that sparked criticism from elected officials and members of the public, especially in San Francisco. One day after the approval, as many as 10 of Cruise's driverless vehicles caused a traffic jam in San Francisco. On Aug. 18, just over a week after Cruise received approval for expanded service, the DMV requested Cruise "immediately reduce its active fleet of operating vehicles by 50%" until an investigation was completed, according to the DMV. It cited four regulations that allow suspension in the event "the Department determines the manufacturer's vehicles are not safe for the public's operation," and "the manufacturer has misrepresented any information related to safety of the autonomous technology of its vehicles."

However, test vehicles have malfunctioned and been implicated in a series of traffic blockages and collisions, some of which have caused injuries or fatalities. The DMV said it provided Cruise with the steps needed to apply to reinstate its permits and noted the suspension will remain in place "until the company has fulfilled the requirements to the department’s satisfaction." Hours after the accident, Cruise also showed the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit video of the incident from cameras mounted atop the Cruise vehicle.