The driverless automobile allegedly didn’t yield to the firetruck’s flashing lights because it went by an intersection Aug. 17, 2022. (Credit score: John Freeman)
An autonomous automobile belonging to Cruise’s robotaxi fleet and a fireplace truck collided throughout a late-night wreck in San Francisco final week, in line with each metropolis police and the corporate.
In a submit Friday morning on social media web site X, previously Twitter, Cruise stated the 2 automobiles slammed into one another Thursday night time in a downtown intersection whereas the corporate’s driverless automobile was transporting one individual.
The crash with the emergency automobile, which Cruise stated “seemed to be en path to an emergency scene,” occurred after the robotaxi “entered the intersection on a inexperienced gentle,” in line with its submit.
The fireplace truck was “working in a ‘Code 3’ emergency mode” that included activated lights and sirens on the time, a San Francisco Police Division (SFPD) spokesperson informed FOX Enterprise. Officers responded round 10:20 p.m.
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Images of the incident advised the Cruise robotaxi sustained injury to its proper facet, notably on its doorways. The airbags additionally appeared to have deployed, in line with the photographs.
A driverless Cruise was concerned in a crash in San Francisco Aug. 17, 2023. | Fox Information
Cruise stated in a weblog submit Friday its autonomous automobile “positively recognized the emergency automobile virtually instantly because it got here into view, which is per our underlying security design and expectation.”
The corporate stated “a number of elements” added to the “complexity of this particular incident.” It pointed to the intersection being “considerably occluded by buildings” making “visible identification more difficult” and stated the fireplace truck “was within the oncoming lane of site visitors, which it had moved into to bypass the purple gentle,” one thing that made monitoring its path extra “difficult.”
“The Cruise AV did establish the danger of a collision and initiated a braking maneuver, decreasing its velocity, however was in the end unable to keep away from the collision,” Cruise stated.
Workers carrying florescent jackets labeled “Cruise” have been on the crash web site after the accident, in line with a photograph. Footage additionally confirmed a tow truck arrived to help with the response.
A driverless Cruise sits at an intersection after a crash in San Francisco Aug. 17, 2023. | Fox Information
Cruise stated it has “been in touch to supply help and can stay in contact” with the person driving within the robotaxi that acquired hit. That individual went to the hospital for “non-life-threatening accidents,” a SFPD spokesperson informed FOX Enterprise.
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In a press release, the California Division of Motor Autos informed Fox Information Digital it had “requested Cruise to right away scale back its lively fleet of working automobiles by 50% till the investigation is full and Cruise takes acceptable corrective actions to enhance highway security.”
That request was made a day after the accident.
A driverless Cruise sits at an intersection following a collision in San Francisco Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. In response to an eyewitness, the driverless automobile did not yield to the firetruck’s emergency lights because it handed by an intersection, ensuing within the crash. | Fox Information
The Basic Motors subsidiary stated in its weblog submit Friday it will “proceed to work in partnership with regulators and metropolis departments on EMV interactions to scale back the probability of incidents like these taking place once more.”
| Ticker | Safety | Final | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | GENERAL MOTORS CO. | 32.94 | -0.34 | -1.01% |
Cruise and one other autonomous automobile firm, Waymo, have had clearance to function in any respect hours in San Francisco since Aug. 10.
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Along with San Francisco, Cruise has driverless taxi rides out there in Austin and Phoenix, in line with its web site. The corporate stated Tuesday on social media it had kicked off conducting some preliminary testing in Raleigh, North Carolina, one thing it has executed in different cities beforehand.
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.
