California regulators have made the decision to revoke the license of the Cruise robotaxi service, which is owned by General Motors (GM), due to concerns regarding safety. Cruise’s driverless cars recently began operating in San Francisco, but after a series of incidents, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has deemed them a safety risk.
The suspension of Cruise’s robotaxi service by the DMV comes just two months after the Public Utilities Commission, another state regulatory body, granted approval for around-the-clock rides in San Francisco. However, this expansion faced backlash, with objections raised by police and fire officials who believed the driverless cars were hindering emergency responses during their testing phase.
The DMV’s decision to suspend Cruise’s license cited concerns over an “unreasonable risk to public safety.” While the DMV did not provide specific reasons for the suspension, recent events contributed to the decision. Notably, earlier this month, a Cruise robotaxi was involved in an incident where it struck a pedestrian who had already been hit by another human-driven vehicle and then pinned the pedestrian under one of its tires.
Cruise has confirmed that it has ceased its robotaxi operations in San Francisco and is collaborating with state and federal regulators in their investigation into the accident. Cruise stated that its engineers are examining the incident and working on improvements to the robotaxis’ response to such rare events.
During the suspension, Cruise will still be able to operate its vehicles in autonomous mode, but with a human in the driver’s seat to take control if necessary, which is a standard precaution in autonomous vehicle testing.
Another robotaxi service operated by Waymo continues to operate in San Francisco. GM had ambitious plans for Cruise, with expectations of generating $1 billion in revenue by 2025. This suspension comes as a significant setback to GM’s Cruise and its long-term goals.
In a conference call before the regulatory action, GM CEO Mary Barra praised Cruise and its autonomous vehicles, emphasizing their focus on safety. However, several incidents and traffic disruptions have raised concerns about the implementation of robotaxi services in San Francisco. San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu applauded the DMV’s suspension, calling for a reconsideration of the Public Utilities Commission’s approval for Cruise’s expansion to ensure safety and performance metrics are met.