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"The AV detected a collision, bringing the vehicle to a stop; then attempted to pull over to avoid causing further road safety issues, pulling the individual forward approximately 20 feet." The company recalled nearly 1,000 vehicles to update their software after the incident. Our legal systems usually ask in these situations, “Could this have been foreseen and prevented?
Robotaxi companies have a serious trust issue
Cruise has insisted it showed video of the entire incident—including the dragging—to state and federal regulators. The company has since halted all taxi and testing operations across the nation, including in Austin, Texas, where it also offered paid, Uber-like robotaxi rides. It recalled the technology involved in the October crash, which it said was able to be repaired via an over-the-air update. It also announced a series of moves that the company says are dedicated to “rebuilding trust,” including third-party reviews of its safety operations and culture.
GM's Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt resigns from company
Vogt's resignation comes after General Motors installed its very own Executive Vice President of Legal and Policy (and already a Cruise board member), Craig Glidden, as Chief Administrative Officer of the autonomous vehicle firm last week. Cruise's legal, communications and finance teams now report to Glidden. The company misled reporters about the facts, and maybe state regulators too. Vogt’s fall is also sad because it is founder-led companies which are often the real movers and shakers in the world. It will not have somebody at the helm who can make things happen in the company not simply because they have authority from the board of directors, but because they are the person who brought the company to where it is. That’s amazingly important, especially in a startup or a company trying to do what has never been done before.
A Cruise car hit a pedestrian. The company’s response could set back California’s new robotaxi industry
Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt quits amid turmoil over driverless cars - Los Angeles Times
Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt quits amid turmoil over driverless cars.
Posted: Mon, 20 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
According to its most recent quarterly update, GM has lost roughly $1.9 billion on Cruise between January and September 2023, including $732 million in the third quarter alone.
Our approach is working with regulators, press, the public, and other stakeholders simply must improve. We’ve got to come back with a new plan that is grounded in what we’ve learned. Late last year, U.S. safety regulators said they were investigating reports that autonomous robotaxis run by Cruise can stop too quickly or unexpectedly quit moving, potentially stranding passengers. His resignation follows an accident where a pedestrian who was struck by another vehicle became trapped underneath a Cruise robotaxi, which dragged her as it attempted to pull over. Rescuers needed to use the jaws of life to free her after Cruise disabled the vehicle. Morale at Cruise has been low since the October 2 incident, with employees pointing the finger at poor management that didn’t prioritize safety at the company.
GM-owned Cruise "failed to disclose" full video and key crash details, DMV said.
When the dragging incident happened, they worked hard to get out the message that another driver was at fault. That’s an unsurprising desire, since any company lives in fear of the crashes where they are at fault. Somehow this led to the non-disclosure of the mistake their software did make in this incident. Rather than sit back and let driverless cars come to them eventually, Barra insisted on GM staying in the driver’s seat. And now it has to deal with the fallout when that company’s “move fast and break things” culture has resulted in a crisis.
No prison time for developer who bribed city officials for 18 years
Emergency crews advised that the vehicle should not move off of her, and instead jacked the vehicle up to extract her and take her to hospital, where she remains. There have been minimal updates on her condition, though some suggestions are that she is improving slowly. Initially, that means taking more of a direct hand in Cruise’s operation.
Morale is reportedly extremely low, as can be seen by how frequently staff are leaking internal information. It’s unclear, but GM has already tightened the reins by signaling that layoffs would be coming. Cruise has already laid off many of the contract workers who do maintenance and fleet operations for the company. But now it seems like Cruise employees are at risk of losing their jobs as well.
The DMV states they were not shown the video of this dragging, though Cruise insists they were shown it multiple times. However, a written statement from Cruise to the DMV the morning after the crash omitted this very important detail. This was also the case in my discussions with Cruise—while I asked the video be stopped before the incident, I asked a number of questions that should have elicited information about the dragging, but did not. It all came to a head after a serious incident which began when an unknown human hit-and-run driver hit a jaywalking pedestrian while traveling in the lane next to a Cruise vehicle. The victim was bounced off the first car and into the lane in front of the Cruise, which could not avoid hitting her, though it tried to stop. That would have been unfortunate, but with no fault to Cruise, except for what happened next.
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. Another Cruise robotaxi hit a fire truck in San Francisco in August. The founder of General Motors-owned Cruise has stepped down less than a month after the driverless car company paused operations after an accident and the loss of permission to operate in California.
The decision came over a month after an incident in which a hit-and-run victim became pinned under a Cruise vehicle and then was dragged 20 feet to the side of the road. As a result, California Department of Motor Vehicles suspended Cruise’s permit to operate driverless cars in the state. The accident, and the consequent licence revocation, was a significant setback for Cruise and for the autonomous driving industry. Companies are racing to develop software capable of driving cars in busy cities while also convincing regulators and the public that it can be safer than human drivers. A battle arose between the city and both Cruise and its competitor Waymo, but both companies seemed to be doing okay, because the city does not have jurisdiction over driving—that belongs to the state of California.
Other car companies have sought to put some distance between themselves and the startups working on self-driving cars. But GM has stayed bullish, insisting that the billions of dollars it was sinking into the technology (GM has lost $8.2 billion on Cruise since 2017) would eventually result in a safer future — and a huge payout for the company. Kyle Vogt has resigned as CEO of Cruise, General Motors’ autonomous vehicle unit, as questions build about the safety of self-driving cars. Kyle Vogt has resigned as CEO of Cruise, General Motors' autonomous vehicle unit, as questions build about the safety of self-driving cars.
We have not conquered the challenge of bug free software, even in much more simple realms. They will happen, and be obvious in hindsight, and if we are unwise, we will pull them off the roads, and delay the eventual delivery of much safer roads. While we delay it, drunks and others will continue the carnage we are used to.
While we haven’t seen the final data after the flurry of incidents Cruise engendered after they expanded service, they might or might not have reached a level that would be deemed unacceptable. Cruise had trouble appointing a permanent Chief Safety Officer—somebody with strong authority to enforce safety requirements in the company—and only did so after the incident. This, however, is not all (or even most) of what sunk Vogt and Cruise with the DMV. When Cruise offered reports on this incident to the press (including myself) and the DMV, they did not mention the dragging after the vehicle had stopped.
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