Cruise, the autonomous vehicle technology company owned by General Motors, has temporarily halted its driverless car operations across the United States following regulatory scrutiny and safety concerns raised by incidents involving its Robotaxis.
AP News reports that GM’s Cruise has decided to suspend its autonomous, driverless operations throughout the nation. This decision follows close on the heels of the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) revoking Cruise’s license, citing potential risks to public safety. The regulatory body’s stern action was a response to a series of unsettling incidents that cast shadows on the safety and reliability of Cruise’s robotaxis.
Cruise Robotaxi (Cruise)
As Breitbart News previously reported:
The DMV said it can revoke a permit “if a manufacturer is engaging in a practice in such a manner that immediate suspension is required for the safety of persons on a public road.”
“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 said.
“We have decided to proactively pause driverless operations across all of our fleets while we take time to examine our processes, systems, and tools and reflect on how we can better operate in a way that will earn public trust,” Cruise said in a public statement. The company emphasized that the suspension was not triggered by any fresh on-road mishaps, and it plans to continue operations with human-supervised autonomous vehicles.
The suspension comes after a particularly alarming incident where a Cruise robotaxi was involved in an accident with a pedestrian. The pedestrian, already struck by another vehicle, was further injured by the Cruise vehicle, raising serious questions about the autonomous car’s response in emergency situations.
Breitbart News has reported on a growing list of incidents caused by Cruise robotaxis, including traffic jams:
A group of about ten self-driving taxis became stuck in the San Francisco neighborhood of North Beach on Friday evening, causing a traffic jam just one day after regulators voted to allow driverless taxi companies virtual free rein in the city.
The jam was captured by bystanders, as drivers were stuck behind — and between — the driverless taxis, owned by the Cruise company.
The AP contributed to this report.
Read more at AP News here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.