1 working day after California regulators awarded Cruise a milestone permit in its attempts to commercialize autonomous-driving technology, a single of the company’s cars was involved in a crash that resulted in numerous injuries.
The crash transpired in San Francisco on the night time of June 3, when a Cruise car or truck running in autonomous method designed a left convert in entrance of an oncoming Toyota Prius at the intersection of Geary Boulevard and Spruce Avenue.
Occupants of equally vehicles have been hurt, in accordance to a report Cruise submitted with the California Section of Motor Automobiles. Todd Brugger, Cruise’s vice president of worldwide markets, wrote in the report that law enforcement and crisis health-related products and services addressed the occupants for “allegedly minimal injuries.”
General Motors-backed Cruise stated its self-driving auto came to a quit in the roadway right before completing its left transform, and was stationary when struck.
The company offered even further statements about its interpretation of the placement and behavior of the human-driven Toyota Prius in its submitting, declaring the Prius was speeding and that it had ongoing straight from a suitable-transform lane.
Those facts could not be independently verified. A spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department could not find an incident report relevant to the crash Wednesday, and said it was probable no report was generated.
The National Freeway Targeted visitors Basic safety Administration reported it opened a exclusive investigation into the crash.
NHTSA’s unique crash investigations are separate from defect investigations utilised to determine if vehicles need to be recalled. The company has not opened a defect probe into Cruise. NHTSA has opened 45 exclusive crash investigations into crashes considering the fact that 2016 involving suspected automated and advanced driver techniques this is the 1st involving a Cruise automobile.
A Cruise spokesperson declined Wednesday to say why the AV stopped in advance of finishing its turn.
Whilst the Cruise auto could have been stationary, Phil Koopman, a Carnegie Mellon College professor and autonomous-car or truck safety specialist, mentioned a great deal extra information would still be wanted to assess the habits of both of those human beings and machine in the crash.
“Lots of men and women have a phrase for a driver who cuts in entrance of them and then stops in the highway, and it really is not a polite or charitable word,” he claimed. “There are a ton of unknowns here. We don’t know if the Prius driver supposed to switch proper, but then swerved to test and stay away from the crash with the stationary vehicle, for case in point. There are just a lot of unknowns.”
In its required report, Cruise claimed the crash took put whilst the automobile was in “driverless autonomous manner.” The organization spokesperson declined to give far more particulars on regardless of whether the human occupant or human occupants in the self-driving car was or had been a experience-hailing passenger or an worker.