"The most important thing for us right now is to take steps to rebuild public trust. Part of this involves taking a hard look inwards and at how we do work at Cruise, even if it means doing things that are uncomfortable or difficult," the San Francisco-based company said in a statement published Thursday evening.
"In that spirit, 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.
The General Motors-owned company said in its announcement that its decision to halt its driverless operations "isn't related to any new on-road incidents, and supervised AV operations will continue."
"We think it's the right thing to do during a period when we need to be extra vigilant when it comes to risk, relentlessly focused on safety, and taking steps to rebuild public trust," the company said.
Though Cruise's robotaxis had become increasingly normal sights on San Francisco streets prior to its suspension, the company also offers driverless rides in Austin, Texas; Phoenix; and Houston. The company was also preparing to bring its robotaxis to other cities such as Seattle and Nashville.
An Oct. 2 severe crash in which a Cruise robotaxi ran over a woman crossing the street in downtown San Francisco after she was struck by a human motorist in a hit-and-run is what spurred the California Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend the company's deployment permit. The suspension, announced Tuesday, was effective immediately. In California, the DMV's deployment permits serve as a prerequisite for AV companies vying to charge for fully driverless rides.
Though the Cruise robotaxi did not initiate the crash, the DMV said it continued to drive 20 feet with the woman trapped under the robotaxi's chassis in an attempt to pull over. The DMV alleged in its order of suspension that Cruise initially withheld additional video footage of the "pullover maneuver" when the company met with its investigators the day after the crash. Cruise denies the allegation and said it proactively shared full footage of the incident to state and federal regulators.
The DMV's Cruise suspension came just two months after another regulator, the Public Utilities Commission, permitted the company and its rival, Waymo, to operate commercially in San Francisco at all hours.
It's unclear for how long Cruise's self-imposed driverless operations pause will last. While Cruise is no longer allowed to use its robotaxis for free or paid driverless rides, it can still test its technology on San Francisco as long as there's a human backup driver present.
© 2023 the San Francisco Chronicle. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
