A Cruise robotaxi driving in San Francisco at night.
Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Officials have banned Cruise robotaxis in San Francisco, warning they are a risk to public safety.Officials said this is because Cruise failed to disclose information about a recent accident, per Vice.Cruise has disputed these claims.
Cruise’s robotaxi permits were reportedly revoked because the company failed to disclose video footage of an incident in which a pedestrian was dragged beneath one of its driverless cars for 20 feet after it ran her over, California regulators have said, per Vice.
Cruise was banned from operating its robotaxi service in San Francisco on Tuesday, with regulators warning that the controversial autonomous car company’s vehicles posed “an unreasonable risk to public safety” following a series of accidents.
The company, which aims to build the world’s most advanced self-driving cars, is still able to test its vehicles with a safety driver in the car.
The order of suspension, which was obtained by Vice, refers to an incident from earlier this year, where a pedestrian was hit by a separate vehicle and fell into the path of a Cruise robotaxi, which ran them over.
The autonomous car hard-braked and, having detected a collision, attempted to pull over, traveling 20 feet at a speed of 7 mph while the pedestrian was still underneath the car.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) says that its representatives met with Cruise the following day and were shown video footage of the accident captured by the robotaxi’s cameras.
However, they say that the self-driving company did not disclose the footage of the car attempting to pull over immediately after the crash, and only provided it several days later at the DMV’s request.
“The subsequent maneuvering of the vehicle indicates that Cruise’s vehicles may lack the ability to respond in a safe and appropriate manner during incidents involving a pedestrian so as not to unnecessarily put the pedestrian or others at risk of further injury,” the DMV wrote, per Vice.
In a statement to Vice, a spokesperson for Cruise disputed the DMV’s report. “I can confirm that Cruise showed the full video to the DMV on October 3rd, and played it multiple times,” they said.
Insider reached out to Cruise for further comment but didn’t immediately hear back.
Cruise has been a controversial presence in San Francisco ever since it received approval to run its robotaxi service 24/7 in the city in August.
The company’s cars have been involved in several accidents, including a collision with a firetruck that resulted in a passenger being taken to hospital, ultimately leading to Cruise agreeing to slash its fleet in half.
Following the suspension of its driverless permits, Cruise announced that it would pause its driverless car services in San Francisco entirely.
“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 company wrote on X.
“The AV braked aggressively before impact and because it detected a collision, it attempted to pull over to avoid further safety issues. When the AV tried to pull over, it continued before coming to a final stop, pulling the pedestrian forward.
“Shortly after the incident, our team proactively shared information with the CA DMV, CPUC, and NHTSA, including the full video. Our teams are currently doing an analysis to identify potential enhancements to the AV’s response to this kind of extremely rare event,” they added.