Following an accident that resulted in the suspension of all driverless cruise vehicles. The board of Cruise, the robo taxi company controlled by General Motors, has taken various measures to address the situation. Cruise’s board has engaged the services of law firm Quinn Emanuel to review the responses of Cruise management to regulators who are investigating the October 2 accident. Additionally, they have employed technology consultancy Exponent to evaluate Cruise’s technology. These actions were reported by the New York Times.
General Motors has given its full support for the board’s decisions. They emphasize the importance of prioritizing safety and building trust with government partners and regulators. Their commitment to Cruise with the aim of commercialization remains unwavering.
Both federal and state safety regulators are currently conducting investigations into a series of accidents involving driverless Cruise vehicles. The license for operating driverless vehicles in California was suspended by regulators last month due to concerns of public safety.
Inaccurate Sharing of Information:
Regulators in California discovered that Cruise officials had provided inaccurate information regarding an accident. The incident happened when a Cruise car hit a person after being struck by a human operated vehicle. Furthermore, it was revealed that, as part of its programming to pull over after an accident, the Cruise vehicle unintentionally dragged the pedestrian for a distance of 20 feet.
Federal regulators have also started an investigation into incidents where Cruise driverless cars seemingly failed to yield to pedestrians in cross walks. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was already investigating cases in which Cruise cars were hit from behind.
Last week, Cruise declared a pause on all driverless cruise vehicle operations in order to thoroughly evaluate their processes, systems, and tools.
CEO Speaks out:
Mary Barra, CEO of GM and a board member of Cruise, projected revenue of $50 billion in by 2030. However, the operation experienced a loss of over $700 million in the third quarter of this year due to increased spending on expanding operations to 15 cities across the United States.
Cruise recently announced its plans to begin operations in Japan through a joint venture with Honda.
Barra assured analysts that GM will disclose more about its plans for Cruise later this year. She also reassured them that funding plans have been established to support Cruise’s expansion.
It remains to be seen if Cruise can regain it’s licence to operate anytime soon. Until then be safe out there and look left and right.
San Francisco issue ban on Cruise Robotaxis in Safety Concern