California has banned self-driving taxis from San Francisco streets following an accident in which a pedestrian was pulled under the wheels of a Cruise vehicle. The state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) raised safety concerns, alleging that the company distorted what occurred following the event.<\/p>\n
Cruise is one of two firms that has been allowed to provide taxi trips with driverless cars in the city. On October 2, a pedestrian was struck by a car and then propelled into the path of a Cruise taxi. According to Cruise, the car “detected a collision” and stopped. It then “attempted to pull over to avoid causing further road safety issues, pulling the individual forward approximately 20 feet”. However, the DMV has given a different account of what happened.<\/p>\n
“During the course of performing the hard-braking manoeuvre, the AV collided with and ran over the pedestrian,” the agency said. “After coming to a complete stop, the AV vehicle subsequently attempted to perform a pullover manoeuvre while the pedestrian was underneath the vehicle.” The DMV also accuses Cruise of misrepresenting what happened.<\/p>\n
“On October 3, the department met with Cruise to analyze the incident,” the agency said. “The video footage presented to the department ended with the AV’s initial stop following the hard-braking manoeuvre. Footage of the subsequent movement of the AV to perform a pullover manoeuvre was not shown to the department.”<\/p>\n
Cruise said that the scenario had not been encountered before and was due to a “confluence of factors”. However, the DMV said that the incident “indicates that Cruise’s vehicles may lack the ability to respond in a safe and appropriate manner during incidents involving a pedestrian”.<\/p>\n
The DMV has confirmed that the suspension does not apply to Waymo, the second firm that provides paid-for driverless taxis in San Francisco.<\/p>\n