A Cruise car in San Francisco on Feb. 2, 2022.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Photographs
General Motors’ Cruise self-driving car unit will redeploy automobiles on U.S. roadways for the primary time since October, starting with a small fleet of human-driven automobiles in Phoenix, the company said Tuesday.
The relaunch comes after the corporate ceased operations weeks after an Oct. 2 accident wherein a pedestrian in San Francisco was dragged 20 ft by a Cruise robotaxi after being struck by a separate car.
The redeployed automobiles won’t function as they beforehand did — as robotaxis — however will “create maps and collect highway info in choose cities, beginning in Phoenix,” the corporate mentioned.
Cruise mentioned its “objective is to renew driverless operations,” nevertheless it didn’t present a timeline for doing so. It additionally didn’t present a timetable to increasing human-driven automobiles to different cities.
The corporate referred to as the relaunched fleet with human drivers “a important step for validating our self-driving programs as we work in direction of returning to our driverless mission.”
“In October 2023, we paused operations of our fleet to give attention to rebuilding belief with regulators and the communities we serve, and to revamp our method to security,” Cruise said in a blog post. “We have made important progress, guided by new firm management, suggestions from third-party consultants, and a give attention to a detailed partnership with the communities wherein our automobiles function. We’re dedicated to this enchancment as a steady effort.”
A 3rd-party probe into the October incident and subsequent fallout, which was ordered by GM and Cruise, found culture issues, ineptitude and poor management had been on the heart of regulatory oversights that led to the accident. The probe additionally investigated allegations of a coverup by Cruise management, however didn’t discover any proof to help these claims.
Cruise mentioned in January that it “accepts” the conclusions discovered within the report. The San Francisco-based firm, of which GM owns about 80%, mentioned it’s going to “act on all” suggestions and is “absolutely cooperating” with investigations by state and federal companies following the Oct. 2 accident.
The corporate mentioned in January that investigations or inquiries into the incident included these by the California DMV, California Public Utilities Fee, Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration, U.S. Division of Justice and U.S. Securities and Trade Fee.
Previous to the accident, Cruise was planning an aggressive growth of robotaxis exterior its residence market, the place nearly all of its automobiles operated.
Along with the ceasing of operations, Cruise management has been gutted: Its cofounders, together with CEO and cofounder Kyle Vogt, resigned and 9 different leaders had been ousted. And the enterprise laid off 24% of its workforce, in addition to a spherical of contractors.
