Safety regulators opened a probe after two pedestrians were reportedly injured by its autonomous vehicles.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating whether General Motors’ Cruise autonomous driving unit is taking proper precautions with its Chevrolet Bolt robotaxis in cities where it currently operates. Per Reuters, the agency received two reports of injured pedestrians, and is looking into two other incidents after videos were posted online.
In its initial report, the NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) noted that Cruise autonomous vehicles are “encroaching on pedestrians present in or entering roadways, including pedestrian crosswalks, in the proximity of the intended path of the vehicles.” Right now, officials are preliminarily evaluating 594 vehicles to determine whether it’s necessary to try and force Cruise to instigate a recall campaign.
As they currently operate, Cruise’s vehicles may reportedly make decisions that “could increase the risk of collision with a pedestrian, which may result in severe injury or death.” The GM-owned company, for its part, said it is fully and regularly cooperating with the NHTSA’s request for information. Last December, the agency opened a separate probe into Cruise after reports that its vehicles “may engage in inappropriately hard braking or become immobilized.” Two injuries from rear-end crashes prompted that investigation.
The California DMV is also investigating incidents involving Cruise vehicles, including one where a robotaxi was involved in an accident with an emergency vehicle. In its piece on today’s news covering this latest probe, Reuters notes another incident in San Francisco two weeks ago, in which a hit-and-run driver struck and hit a pedestrian who was thrown into an adjacent lane, where they were hit a second time by a Cruise vehicle that did not stop in time.
All these recent reports may impact the NHTSA’s decision to grant Cruise’s February 2022 petition allowing the company to operate 2,500 robotaxis annually, without any human controls including steering wheels in the vehicles. While the agency said it would issue a decision this summer, it has not disclosed whether Cruise will get permission to operate those vehicles in the near future.
