General Motors Co-owned Cruise LLC, which operates a robotaxi service, has issued a recall for its automated-driving system following an incident in San Francisco where one of its vehicles was involved in an accident with a pedestrian. The company has also implemented a software update to part of its fleet as a response to the incident.
In a blog post on Wednesday, the company announced its plans to appoint a chief safety officer and detailed steps it has taken to investigate the incident and its handling of the situation.
During a staff meeting, CEO Kyle Vogt informed employees that the company would be undertaking layoffs, although the specific number of employees affected has not been disclosed.
After California suspended Cruise’s permit to operate driverless vehicles in the state, the company submitted a voluntary recall involving up to 950 vehicles to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This action was taken in response to concerns about the company’s handling of the incident in San Francisco.
According to the recall report submitted to NHTSA, Cruise’s driverless software may have led its vehicles to attempt to pull over out of traffic when they should have remained stationary. This was the case on October 2, when a pedestrian was hit by another car and ended up in the path of a Cruise robotaxi. The vehicle initially stopped, but it then attempted to pull over, dragging the pedestrian about 20 feet.
The incident prompted a defect investigation by NHTSA, and the California Department of Motor Vehicles accused Cruise of withholding video footage of the incident. Cruise disputed this, stating that it had shown the DMV officials the full video of the incident multiple times early last month.
In addition to appointing a chief safety officer, Cruise has hired an external law firm to review the pedestrian accident and enlisted a third-party engineering firm to investigate the root cause of the issue, as mentioned in the blog post.
The company also conveyed its commitment to transparency, stating its dedication to keeping customers, regulators, and the public informed throughout the investigation process. –Bloomberg
