Overview of a Cruise self-driving taxi in San Francisco // Photography: Roberto Baldwin
The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the authority who allowed Cruise to test his self-driving taxis, has just asked the company to reduce its fleet by half. Two accidents happened in one night. An investigation is underway.
Two accidents in one night for Cruise
Until the DMV’s investigations are completed, Cruise will only have 50 autonomous vehicles in service during the day (for paid rides) and 150 at night. The two accidents took place on the night of Thursday to Friday (August 17 to 18). California authorities have said that ” Cruise has agreed to reduce its fleet by 50%. The DMV reserves the right, after investigation, to suspend or revoke testing and/or deployment permits if a risk to public safety is found to exist. ».
So it’s very serious. Cruise may be at a turning point in its history. The operator is responsible for taking appropriate corrective action to improve traffic safety in San Francisco. A spokesperson for Cruise spoke up and said that ” every day more than 100 people die on American roads. Cruise is having a positive impact on overall road safety, and we look forward to working with the California DMV to make any necessary improvements to the efficiency of our fleet. ».
A little after 10PM last night one of our cars was in a collision at Polk and Turk St and we wanted to provide an update on what we know at this time. (1/5)
— cruise (@Cruise) August 18, 2023
What is the risk from emergency vehicles?
On Thursday August 17, 2023, a self-driving taxi owned by Cruise (driverless) and carrying a passenger, collided with a fire truck. According to Cruise, the autonomous vehicle had a green light and firefighters were on their way to an emergency. The company said that the intersection where the accident took place had ” buildings that blocked the view “. Cruise’s vehicle was disrupted and was unable to react in time, in part because the fire truck was driving in the opposite direction to drive around the red light.
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If the autonomous taxi has started a braking maneuver, it was not enough. The passenger in the taxi was injured. Minor injuries according to the company belonging to General Motors. Unfortunately for Cruise, another incident happened hours later that same night. A self-driving taxi without a passenger pulled into a green light when another car ” ran a red light at high speed “. Here is the video of the accident:
surveillance cam footage of last night’s crash. driver of the gray car coming down mission st. toward the autonomous car, which appears to have started driving through a green light.
the empty cruise vehicle detects the oncoming car — and stops dead in the intersection. pic.twitter.com/OdpwNzm5s5
— Eleni Balakrishnan (@miss_elenius) August 19, 2023
Autonomous taxis are not unanimous
Two accidents that take place when the municipal authorities had just asked Californian regulators to interrupt the commercial expansion of autonomous taxis. San Francisco is concerned about their impact on emergency response. These two simultaneous collisions should give food for thought to the refractories. Aaron Peskin, city councilor in San Francisco, had expressed his concerns about autonomous vehicles in particular.
According to him, these two accidents do not are not surprising. It was just waiting to happen. It was only a matter of time “. Unhappy with Cruise’s public response, the man believes society should ” worry about the safety of San Francisco residents “. For several months now, self-driving cars have invaded the streets of the big Californian city. If the tourists marvel, the inhabitants of San Francisco are already fed up. Especially taxi drivers.
But they are not the only ones. The Safe Street Rebel movement, which accuses autonomous vehicles of “ collect data without consent and distract public authorities from the public transport network ” positions itself as a defender of the inhabitants of the city. They have fun in particular immobilizing the autonomous taxis of Waymo and Cruise by placing construction cones on the hoods of the cars. Self-driving cars are notably accused of slowing down traffic on the streets of San Francisco, as can be seen in this video:
Spotted: Three robo cars stalled in the same intersection in San Francisco. This time, it’s @Cruise cars jamming the intersection of Valencia/21 St. in the Mission.
Parking enforcement guy banging on windows trying to communicate w/ Cruise. Traffic backed up for blocks. pic.twitter.com/ShcYYv8XEl
— Dustin Gardiner (@dustingardiner) August 20, 2023
