Cruise puts robotaxi operations on pause following California license suspension

Table Of Content

• Here's what reportedly led to Cruise robotaxis getting banned in San Francisco
• Red light for robotaxis as California suspends Cruise's license to self-drive
• Column: Disneyland just promised electric cars at Autopia. Gas will be gone by 2026
• Notice to Passengers: NCL NORWEGIAN BREAKAWAY
• UPDATE: Notice to Passengers Regarding Crystal Cruises
• Authorities seeking public help to locate missing …

General Motors’ Cruise autonomous vehicle unit is recalling all 950 of its cars to update software after one of them dragged a pedestrian to the side of a San Francisco street in early October. The DMV did not specify what Cruise has to do to get its license back, but it says it has informed Cruise of those steps. Also at Port Everglades, cruisers can opt to speed up their entry through customs by downloading the free official Mobile Passport app, which allows them access to a specially designated (and often short) passport control line.

Here's what reportedly led to Cruise robotaxis getting banned in San Francisco

Cruise has released a breakdown of an incident involving one of its autonomous vehicles (AVs) and a San Franciscan that the DMV is investigating – the crash in which someone was run over after being hit by another car. There is one spot of good news for Cruise; cars with a human safety driver behind the wheel can still operate. However, that rather defeats the whole point of the biz's self-driving vehicle project - getting rid of the driver - although useful training data can be gathered while roaming the streets of California cities with a person at the wheel.

Red light for robotaxis as California suspends Cruise's license to self-drive

Cruise said that after examining its system, it has decided to add a chief safety officer, hire a law firm to review its response to the Oct. 2 crash, appoint a third-party engineering firm to find the technical cause, and adopt companywide "pillars" to focus on safety and transparency. “San Francisco has long held that Cruise vehicles were not ready for prime time, and the state should never have allowed their unlimited deployment in the first place,” he said. The problems that cropped up after that expansion began prompted the DMV initially asked Cruise to cut its driverless fleet in San Francisco in half, a request accepted by the company.

Column: Disneyland just promised electric cars at Autopia. Gas will be gone by 2026

The state’s Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the license for Cruise, which was transporting passengers without human drivers throughout San Francisco. California has suspended driverless vehicles operated by the General Motors subsidiary Cruise in the city of San Francisco—just two months after the state began allowing the robotaxis to pick up paying passengers around the clock. The suspension stems from a gruesome incident on October 2 in which a human-driven vehicle hit a female pedestrian and threw her into the path of a Cruise car. The driverless Cruise car hit her, stopped, and then tried to pull over, dragging her approximately 20 feet. While the California Department of Motor Vehicles didn’t elaborate on specific reasons for its suspension of Cruise’s license this week, the agency charged Cruise with misrepresenting safety information about the autonomous technology in its vehicles.

Cruise pauses all driverless operations after collisions with pedestrians, permit suspensions in California - CNBC

Cruise pauses all driverless operations after collisions with pedestrians, permit suspensions in California.

Posted: Thu, 26 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The complaints involved vehicles operating autonomously and "encroaching on pedestrians present in or entering roadways, including pedestrian crosswalks in the proximity of the intended travel path of the vehicles," the agency said. In the crash, another vehicle with a person behind the wheel struck a pedestrian, sending the person into the path of a Cruise autonomous vehicle. But it then pulled to the right to get out of traffic, pulling the person about 20 feet (six meters) forward. "Ultimately, we develop and deploy autonomous vehicles in an effort to save lives. In the incident being reviewed by the DMV, a human hit-and-run driver tragically struck and propelled the pedestrian into the path of the AV," a company spokesperson told Insider. Also earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that it was investigating Cruise's autonomous vehicle division after receiving reports of incidents where vehicles may not have used proper caution around pedestrians in roadways, including crosswalks.

The DMV and others have accused Cruise of not initially sharing all video footage of the accident, but the robotaxi operator pushed back — saying it disclosed the full video to state and federal officials. The company said in documents posted by US safety regulators on Wednesday that with the updated software, Cruise vehicles will remain stationary should a similar incident occur in the future. On some cruise lines or on certain itineraries, a single parent traveling with children might be required to show a letter of permission from the second parent. If parent and child don't share a last name, many lines require additional documentation (like the child's passport and birth certificate) as proof of the relationship. Grandparents or other guardians traveling with minors without either of their parents will also need a letter of consent from a parent and often an official form from the cruise line.

California DMV pulls permits for Cruise's driverless cars over safety concerns - Los Angeles Times

California DMV pulls permits for Cruise's driverless cars over safety concerns.

Posted: Tue, 24 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

UPDATE: Notice to Passengers Regarding Crystal Cruises

Around the same time, several vehicles stalled in traffic in a busy intersection on a weekend night. The company blamed a music festival — which was roughly four miles away — for jamming up the signal in the area and delaying the response from the company to restart the vehicles. After Tuesday’s announcement, a Post reporter saw several Cruise cars around the city with humans in the drivers seat. In December of last year, the NHSTA opened a separate probe into reports of Cruise's robotaxis that stopped too quickly or unexpectedly quit moving, potentially stranding passengers. Three rear-end collisions that reportedly took place after Cruise AVs braked hard kicked off the investigation. Still, some are skeptical of Cruise's response to the accident and point to lingering questions.

California regulators suspend recently approved San Francisco robotaxi service for safety reasons

The 2 October crash prompted Cruise to suspend driverless operations nationwide after California regulators found that its cars posed a danger to public safety. The state’s department of motor vehicles revoked the license for Cruise, which was transporting passengers without human drivers throughout San Francisco. The California Public Utilities Commission also suspended the license giving Cruise the right to charge passengers for robotaxi rides.

In August, a driverless car entered the intersection of a green light and was struck by a firetruck on its way to an emergency scene. A passenger was treated at the scene for “nonsevere” injuries and Cruise said it was investigating the incident. The agency said the AI-controlled taxis are "not safe for the public's operation," although just last month the agency gave the green light for their use on the streets of San Francisco. It also accused Cruise of misrepresenting the capabilities and safety data of their cars to regulators.

Customs and Border Protection agency, in charge of processing passengers as they disembark the ship back in the U.S. For clearance, you'll be required to fill out a customs form and present your passport to immigration officials, either on the ship or in the cruise terminal. Be sure to hold on to receipts in order to declare goods purchased aboard, and to adhere to allowances for purchases of popular items like alcohol, cigarettes and cigars.

Clashing with the state Legislature and California’s biggest cities over safety, the Newsom administration races ahead with driverless vehicle deployment. GM recently paused production of the Origin, a fully autonomous van designed for Cruise to carry multiple passengers. Maximum linear size (length + width + height) for the carry-on will vary by airline, but it's generally about 45 inches. International flights and carriers may have different (often more restrictive) carry-on rules than domestic ones; first and business classes often have different restrictions than coach. Most cruise lines will not allow women to sail in the third trimester of pregnancy; you must typically be 24 weeks pregnant or less on the day of disembarkation in order to cruise. Generally, vaccinations are not required for travel to cruise destinations, though many countries do list vaccine recommendations for travelers.

Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies automated vehicles, wants to know “who knew what when? "We learned today at 1030 PT of the California DMV’s suspension of our driverless permits. As a result, we will be pausing operations of our driverless AVs in San Francisco," a spokesperson told The Register. Updated California's Department of Motor Vehicles has rescinded GM-owned Cruise's right to roam the streets with its self-driving cars, citing public safety and accusing the biz of withholding information.

In a statement, Cruise spokesperson Hannah Lindow disputed that Cruise failed to provide the full video during the first meeting with the DMV. “I can confirm that Cruise showed the full video to the DMV on October 3rd, and played it multiple times,” Lindow told Motherboard in a statement. The day after the incident, DMV representatives met with Cruise to “discuss the incident.” During that meeting, Cruise only showed footage up to the first complete stop, according to the Order of Suspension. No one at Cruise told the officers or showed any footage of the subsequent pullover maneuver and dragging. The DMV only learned of that from “another government agency.” When DMV asked for footage of that part of the incident, Cruise provided it.