San Francisco, Oct 25 (IANS): In a significant move, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has immediately suspended GM self-driving car subsidiary Cruise’s deployment and driverless testing permits here.
The order that came late on Tuesday has stopped Cruise’s robotaxi operations in San Francisco just months after receiving the last necessary permit to commercialise its operations.
The order of suspension said that Cruise allegedly withheld video footage from an ongoing investigation.
“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. This decision does not impact the company’s permit for testing with a safety driver,” the DMV said in a statement.
"When there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the DMV can immediately suspend or revoke permits. There is no set time for a suspension,” it added.
The DMV officials met Cruise representatives earlier this month, reports TechCrunch.
On October 2, an incident left a pedestrian, who had initially been hit by a human-driven car, stuck under a Cruise robotaxi.
“During the meeting, the department was shown video footage of the accident captured by the autonomous vehicle’s (AV’s) onboard cameras. The video footage present to the department ended with the AV’s initial stop following the hard-braking maneuver,” the order stated.
“Footage of the subsequent movement of the AV to perform a pullover maneuver was not shown to the department and Cruise did not disclose that any additional movement of the vehicle had occurred after the initial stop of the vehicle,” it added.
The DMV order stated that Cruise’s omission hinders the ability of the department to effectively and timely evaluate the safe operation of the company’s vehicles and puts the safety of the public at risk.
Cruise, however, said it shared the entire video with the DMV.
A Cruise spokesperson said the company will be pausing operations of its driverless AVs in San Francisco.
“Ultimately, we develop and deploy autonomous vehicles in an effort to save lives. In the incident being reviewed by the DMV, a human hit and run driver tragically struck and propelled the pedestrian into the path of the AV. The AV braked aggressively before impact and because it detected a collision, it attempted to pull over to avoid further safety issues,” said the company.
“When the AV tried to pull over, it continued before coming to a final stop, pulling the pedestrian forward. Our thoughts continue to be with the victim as we hope for a rapid and complete recovery,” Cruise added.
Shortly after the incident, “our team proactively shared information with the California DMV, CPUC, and NHTSA, including the full video”.
The suspension came less than three months after Cruise, and competitor Waymo, received the final permit required to offer commercial robotaxi services across San Francisco 24/7.