After robotaxi dragged pedestrian 20 feet, Cruise founder and CEO resigns
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The AV traveled about 20 feet and reached a speed of 7 miles per hour before coming to a complete and final stop, the order reads. In a new email sent to Cruise employees, the company’s new president and CTO struck a new conciliatory tone, suggesting the company plans to dial strategically back an aggressive robotaxi roll out that inspired California regulators to ultimately shut the company’s vehicles down. Vogt’s announcement comes a few weeks after one of those test vehicles drove off the road and into a small electrical building, according to Austin Transportation Department records obtained by Axios.
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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. The California DMV said the decision to suspend the permits was made after the agency determined the vehicles were not safe for the public’s operation and that Cruise misrepresented information related to the autonomous vehicle technology in its vehicles. The department also said that the conduct of autonomous vehicle testing on public roads by Cruise presented an unreasonable risk to the public. The company’s main operations were historically based in San Francisco, but Cruise lost its permits to operate there following the accident. Alphabet’s Waymo — Cruise’s main competitor that’s still active in San Francisco — has operated a paid, driverless robotaxi service in the area since 2020 and last year doubled its service area in downtown Phoenix and launched driverless rides to the airport.
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Stellantis has announced partnerships with BMW and Waymo, but nothing along the lines of Cruise and Argo. Cruise Automation's Vogt, meanwhile, called the acquisition "a ground-breaking and necessary step toward rapidly commercializing autonomous vehicle technology." As for its new acquisition, GM says Cruise will operate as an independent unit within its newly formed Autonomous Vehicle Development Team, and continue to be based in San Francisco. Founded in 2013, the company has "moved quickly to develop and test autonomous vehicle technology in San Francisco's challenging city environment," GM said.
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Cruise, for example, said it has received seven different permits over the past few years from the DMV to operate in California. Cruise, the self-driving company backed by General Motors and Honda, announced a public waitlist for its robotaxi service in San Francisco. It’s a significant step for the company that has previously been beset by delays in its quest to get paying customers into its autonomous ride-hailing vehicles.
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General Motors’ Cruise is redeploying robotaxis in Phoenix after nearly five months of paused operations, the company said in a blog post. Kyle Vogt, CEO and founder of GM-owned autonomous vehicle company Cruise, announced Tuesday that the company's robotaxis are now running around the clock in San Francisco. The CPUC approved the final permit despite opposition from residents and some city officials who pointed to numerous instances of vehicles malfunctioning and stopping in the middle of the street — referred to as “bricking” — blocking the flow of traffic, public transit and emergency responders. The DMV later stated in the order 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.
On Thursday, just two days after the California Department of Motor Vehicles suspended Cruise’s driverless permits, the company said it would suspend all driverless operations in the country to examine its process and earn back public trust. The automaker also has discussed personal autonomous vehicles as early as mid-decade and evaluating "flying cars" for the mid-2030s, among other things that have been de-emphasized more recently. In 2021, the company said it had about 20 initiatives in its pipeline that targeted $1.3 trillion in new total addressable markets. Since the incident, Cruise's robotaxi fleet has been grounded, pending the results of independent safety probes.
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"Cruise has a deeply troubling record of dangerous incidents involving its autonomous vehicles. This company must not be allowed to test its vehicles on Arizona roads. The news comes as the outlook for a future dominated by driverless cars remains dour. Investment in robotaxi and delivery operations has fizzled, dropping 60 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year.
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Earlier this week, protestors rallied outside of Cruise headquarters after the fire department accused the company of allowing its robotaxi to block the path of an ambulance which carried a passenger who later died. Cruise showed footage of the incident to TechCrunch that backed its denial of the incident as the fire department described, but the company suffered a reputation hit anyway. Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt said Thursday at an investor conference that the company is close to from getting the green light to begin mass production of its purpose-built autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals.
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The first step is identifying high fidelity location data for road features and map information like speed limits, stop signs, traffic lights, lane paint, right turn only lanes and more. Having current and accurate information will help an autonomous vehicle understand where it is and the location of certain road features. We also measure our perception and prediction systems against our elevated performance criteria, using trained safety drivers as a benchmark. At this stage, no autonomous systems are engaged and the vehicles will not carry public passengers. Like other robotaxi developers, Cruise's autonomous vehicles have occasionally distressed San Francisco safety advocates, drivers and pedestrians after they have stalled in traffic or blocked streets.
Its leadership has been gutted, including its cofounders resigning and nine other leaders being ousted. GM is massively cutting spending and growth plans for the business, including pausing production of a new robotaxi. Across San Francisco, Phoenix and Austin, where Cruise is currently operating or testing its vehicles, there are around 240 driverless cars that run concurrently at night, with a majority in San Francisco. The company's paid, driverless service is a step towards broader commercial deployment of a long-promised autonomous alternative to ride-hailing services like Uber or Lyft in the U.S. "The Teamsters represent thousands of professional drivers who work on our state's roads and highways every day. Our members and the general public do not feel safe operating next to Cruise vehicles and for good reason.
There are few clear federal regulations that set rules for how autonomous vehicles must function, and what standards they must meet before they are tested on public roads. At the federal level, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gathers mostly self-reported crash data from companies. In California, the DMV issues permits for testing and deployment, and the CPUC regulates commercial passenger service programs. As we continue working to rebuild trust and determine the city where we will scale driverless, we also remain focused on continuing to improve our performance and overall safety approach.
Video captured by Cruise and viewed by TechCrunch showed a robotaxi braking and then running over a pedestrian who was lying in the street after being struck by a human-driven car and launched in front of the autonomous vehicle. Cruise said in its account of the events that the robotaxi “braked aggressively” to minimize impact. Still, the pedestrian was run over and then stuck under the vehicle, according to police as well as video from local bystanders that show the person under the robotaxi. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on October 16 opened an investigation into Cruise vehicles after receiving reports of two pedestrian injuries, including the October 2 incident. The Cruise cars "may not have exercised appropriate caution around pedestrians in the roadway," the agency said.
The losses have been increasing, including $1.9 billion through the third quarter of this year. GM continues to operate a military defense unit and fuel cell business that have both recently announced new contracts or partnerships. Our goal is to earn trust and build partnerships with the communities such that, ultimately, we resume fully driverless operations in collaboration with a city. Prior to that incident, Cruise had been announcing launches in new cities — including Dallas, Houston and Miami — at a startling pace.
In an interview with The Post last month, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt said the criticism of driverless cars and the incidents involving his company were overblown. Just as the light turned green at a chaotic intersection in downtown San Francisco that October night, a pedestrian stepped into the road. A human-driven car rammed into the woman, causing her to roll onto the windshield for a few moments before she was flung into the path of the Cruise driverless car. That approval was a pivotal moment for the self-driving car industry, as it expanded one of the biggest test cases in the world for the technology. But there's growing concern across the industry, not just with GM and Cruise, about the viability of autonomous vehicles, or AVs, as a business instead of as a niche science project. Over the past several weeks we have communicated directly with officials, first responders, and community leaders in cities we’ve previously operated in to share updates on our path forward.
"As for what's next for me, I plan to spend time with my family and explore some new ideas. Thanks for the great ride!" Vogt wrote. Vogt expressed optimism about Cruise's future without him, saying the team is "executing on a solid, multi-year roadmap and an exciting product vision." Whether you have a question or want to report an issue, our team wants to hear from you. Cruise's path to autonomous driving creates opportunities for increased mobility and independence. Cruise rebuts the DMV’s account, saying “shortly after the incident, our team proactively shared information” with state and federal investigators.
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