US security authorities have opened a preliminary investigation into the robotaxis developed and operated by GM’s self-driving subsidiary, Cruise.
The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration said it opened the investigation after learning of incidents where these robotaxis “may have braked inappropriately hard or become immobilized while driving on public roads.” The preliminary investigation covers all Cruise AVs.
Reuters was the first to report the formal security investigation.
Cruise has received appropriate permits from California regulators to operate and charge for driverless rides in certain areas of San Francisco. The company is awaiting the last remaining approval from the state’s Public Utilities Commission to expand its service area to all of San Francisco.
As Cruise has ramped up its driverless business, so has public attention. While countless videos and posts focus on the thrill of driving a self-driving car, not all of the public’s documentation is positive. Numerous videos and images have been posted to social media, Reddit and other public forums documenting Cruise robotaxis seemingly stuck at intersections blocking traffic in San Francisco.
However, NHTSA didn’t hear about the hard-hitting social media crash events. Cruise reported the events through the agency’s Standing General Order, which requires manufacturers to report certain accidents involving vehicles equipped with automated driving systems or SAE Level 2 advanced driver assistance systems. This is the third investigation NHTSA has opened into a developer of automated driving systems; the first two were for Pony.ai (a recall question and an audit question), the agency said. There have been multiple studies of Tesla’s advanced driver assistance system.
NHTSA said three hard braking crashes were reported by Cruise through the Standing General Order. In two accidents people were injured. Cruise said that in all three of these incidents, the vehicle was under surveillance, meaning a trained safety operator was behind the wheel. None of the incidents led to a police report, according to the company.
Cruise also said it has already met with NHTSA to discuss each of the events mentioned in their file, and provided the agency with briefings and the information they requested. The agency said the investigation was launched to determine the scope and severity of the potential problem and to fully assess the potential safety-related issues caused by these two types of incidents.
“Cruise’s safety record has been made public and includes nearly 700,000 fully autonomous miles driven in an extremely complex urban environment with no life-threatening injuries or fatalities,” Cruise spokesperson Hannah Lindow wrote in an emailed statement. to TBEN. “This against the background of more than 40,000 deaths per year on American roads. There is always a balance between sound regulatory oversight and the innovation we desperately need to save lives. Therefore, we will continue to work fully with NHTSA or any other regulatory body to achieve that shared goal.”
Lindlow noted that in each of these cases, the robotaxi predicted and responded to the behavior of aggressive or erratic road users, working to minimize the severity of the collision and the risk of injury.
NHTSA provided no further insight into the cases of immobilized Cruise vehicles. However, Cruise told TBEN that the company designed its technology to be conservative. When the technology is not quite sure how to proceed, the vehicle switches on the hazard lights and comes to a safe stop. If necessary, Cruise personnel will be physically dispatched to retrieve the vehicle as soon as possible, the company said, adding that this is rare and has not resulted in any collisions.
The robotaxi could become immobilized because a door is open, there’s a problem with the vehicle’s hardware or software, or there’s an unusual outside event on the road, such as a spontaneous firecracker in the street, the company said. A spokesperson said the company is in communication with the CPUC and the State Department of Motor Vehicles, the agency that regulates autonomous vehicles, about how, why and when it is doing this.
