SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -A Cruise robotaxi was involved in a crash with an emergency vehicle in San Francisco late on Thursday, the General Motors unit said, a week after a California agency voted to allow expanded operations of autonomous vehicle services in the city.
“One of our cars entered the intersection on a green light and was struck by an emergency vehicle that appeared to be en route to an emergency scene,” Cruise said on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Initial investigation shows the collision occurred when a fire truck was operating in an emergency with its forward facing red lights and siren on, the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement to Reuters.
The police did not confirm if a case had been registered against Cruise but said the sole passenger in the autonomous vehicle (AV) was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The San Francisco Fire Department said the collision was under investigation without providing further details.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) last week voted to allow robotaxis from Cruise and Alphabet’s Waymo to operate at all hours of the day throughout San Francisco and charge passengers for rides despite strong opposition from residents and city agencies.
The two have been running robotaxi tests limited by times and geographic areas within San Francisco.
City Attorney David Chiu asked the CPUC on Thursday to halt its decision while the city files for a re-hearing. “We have seen that this technology is not yet ready, and poor AV performance has interfered with the life-saving operations of first responders. San Francisco will suffer serious harms from this unfettered expansion,” he said in a statement.
Cruise said in the post it was “deeply mindful of the well-being of the first responders” and that it was investigating to better understand the performance of its vehicles.
(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in San Francisco; editing by Diane Craft)
San Francisco – A Cruise robotaxi was involved in a crash with an emergency vehicle in San Francisco late on Thursday, according to a statement by the General Motors unit. This incident occurred just a week after a California agency voted to allow expanded operations of autonomous vehicle services in the city. Cruise explained on the messaging platform X (formerly known as Twitter) that one of their cars had entered the intersection on a green light and was struck by an emergency vehicle en route to an emergency scene.
According to the San Francisco Police Department, their initial investigation revealed that the collision occurred while a fire truck was operating in an emergency, with its forward-facing red lights and siren activated. The police did not confirm if a case had been registered against Cruise, but they did state that the sole passenger in the autonomous vehicle (AV) was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The San Francisco Fire Department has launched an investigation into the collision, although no further details have been provided.
Just a week prior to the crash, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) had voted to permit robotaxis from Cruise and Alphabet’s Waymo to operate at all hours of the day throughout San Francisco, allowing them to charge passengers for rides. This decision faced strong opposition from city residents and agencies. Prior to this allowance, the two autonomous vehicle companies had been restricted to running tests within specific times and geographic areas in San Francisco.
Following the crash, City Attorney David Chiu urged the CPUC to halt its decision while the city files for a re-hearing, stating that the technology is not yet ready and that poor autonomous vehicle performance has disrupted the life-saving operations of first responders. Chiu emphasized the potential serious harms that San Francisco may face due to the unfettered expansion of robotaxis.
Cruise responded to the incident by expressing their deep concern for the well-being of first responders and disclosed that they are conducting an investigation to gain a better understanding of their vehicles’ performance.
Reporting on the incident was done by Abhirup Roy in San Francisco, with editing by Diane Craft.
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