Citing public safety concerns, two state agencies on Tuesday suspended driverless car company Cruise鈥檚 licenses to test and deploy its vehicles, and its ability to carry passengers, immediately grounding its fleet of about 150 robotaxis in San Francisco.
The Department of Motor Vehicles was the first to say it had the General Motors-owned company鈥檚 licenses to test and deploy its fully autonomous vehicles. In response to CalMatters鈥� request for comment on the DMV鈥檚 move, the California Public Utilities Commission said it has also suspended Cruise鈥檚 ability to carry passengers in driverless vehicles.
Cruise, founded in San Francisco in 2013, conducted its first driverless ride in the city in 2020. It opened a fully driverless taxi service to the public in San Francisco in early 2022, in which riders can summon vehicles like they would on a ride-hailing app. That service was only available at night until this August, when the public utilities commission approved 24/7 operations.
The DMV鈥檚 suspension notices, seen by CalMatters, show that the agency based its suspensions on an in which a Cruise autonomous vehicle dragged a pedestrian who had been hit by a different vehicle right beforehand. The vehicle that first hit the woman was driven by a human who fled the scene and has not been arrested, according to various media reports.
In its notices to Cruise, the DMV notes that the next day, the company showed representatives of the DMV and the California Highway Patrol video from the vehicle鈥檚 cameras that ended with the autonomous vehicle stopping after it braked when the pedestrian fell into its path after being hit by another vehicle. But the DMV also said it was not made aware that the Cruise vehicle then tried to pull over while the pedestrian was underneath it.
鈥淭he department only learned of the AV鈥檚 subsequent movement via discussion with another government agency,鈥� the suspension notice says. DMV spokesperson Anita Gore told CalMatters that agency was the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which last week opened its own investigation into Cruise over four safety incidents, including the Oct. 2 incident.
The DMV said in its notices that the agency then requested the additional footage from Cruise, and received it Oct. 13.
鈥淲hen there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the DMV can immediately suspend or revoke permits,鈥� the DMV said in a news release, which also said Cruise鈥檚 suspension is partly based on a state regulation related to the following: 鈥淭he manufacturer has misrepresented any information related to safety of the autonomous technology of its vehicles.鈥�
Cruise spokesperson Hannah Lindow said Tuesday the company disputes the DMV鈥檚 contention that it did not initially show DMV representatives the full video.
鈥淲e had a meeting with the DMV on 10/3, in which we showed them the complete video multiple times,鈥� Lindow said in an email. 鈥淭hey later requested a copy of the video shown on 10/3, which we provided to them.鈥�
The DMV said in an email that it 鈥渟tands by the facts contained in the order of suspension.鈥�
Cruise also released a statement on its website in which it said it shared the full video with the officials. It also provided a description of the incident, which reads in part: 鈥淭he AV detected a collision, bringing the vehicle to a stop; then attempted to pull over to avoid causing further road safety issues, pulling the individual forward approximately 20 feet.鈥�
The company said in that statement that it plans to include the incident in future simulation tests 鈥渢o allow the vehicle to better determine if it should pull over safely or stay in place.鈥�
Cruise now has five days to request a hearing about the DMV鈥檚 suspension of its deployment license, and 60 days to request a hearing about the suspension of its driverless-testing permit.
The public utilities commission, which has also now suspended Cruise鈥檚 ability to carry passengers in the agency鈥檚 autonomous vehicle deployment and driverless pilot programs, is carrying out its own investigations into Cruise, spokesperson Terrie Prosper said.
Though the DMV and the commission coordinate on regulation of autonomous vehicles and will continue to do so, the suspension decisions were made separately, Prosper said.
The suspensions do not affect Cruise鈥檚 ability to test its vehicles with safety drivers, according to the DMV. The public utilities commission suspension, however, does affect the company鈥檚 ability to carry passengers even with a safety driver.
The commission鈥檚 suspension comes after it in early August to allow Cruise and another autonomous vehicle company, Waymo, to expand their ability to charge for robotaxi service in San Francisco at all hours. A week after that approved expansion, the DMV ordered Cruise to cut its 300-vehicle fleet in half as the agency investigated incidents involving the company鈥檚 autonomous vehicles, including .
In mid-August, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu motions to stay the public utilities commission鈥檚 decision, citing 鈥減oor AV performance creating safety hazards and interfering with first responder operations, public transit, street construction workers, and the flow of traffic,鈥� and said his office would also seek a rehearing. The application for the rehearing is pending, Prosper said.
Also Tuesday, labor leaders and others to protest Alphabet-owned Waymo鈥檚 unveiling of a test of its so-far free robotaxi service in Santa Monica and Venice last week, and a planned expansion by the company elsewhere in the area next month. They expressed concerns about safety, with some of them citing collisions involving self-driving vehicles in San Francisco, and the possible elimination of jobs.
In addition, Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez plans to introduce a motion Wednesday, calling for the L.A. city attorney to join San Francisco in urging the public utilities commission to adopt more 鈥渃ommon-sense regulations鈥� on self-driving cars, said Nick Barnes-Baptista, a spokesperson for the councilmember.
鈥淲e should not be putting lives at risk by allowing our city to be a test subject for the tech industry,鈥� Soto-Martinez said in an emailed statement.
Waymo spokesperson Sandy Karp said the company encourages people 鈥渢o learn more about the positive impacts Waymo鈥檚 autonomous ride hailing is having on safety, accessibility and sustainability.鈥�
Regulation of driverless vehicles has been a hot topic in California. Earlier this year, Gov. Gavin Newsom that would have regulated self-driving trucks, saying in his veto message that it was 鈥渦nnecessary for the regulation and oversight of heavy-duty autonomous vehicle technology in California, as existing law provides sufficient authority to create the appropriate regulatory framework.
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