General Motors’ autonomous vehicle unit recalls cars for software update after dragging pedestrian
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors’ Cruise autonomous vehicle unit is Recall all 950 After it dragged a pedestrian to the side of the road in San Francisco in early October, his cars were forced to forgo software updates.
The company said in documents released Wednesday by U.S. safety regulators that cruise vehicles with the updated software will now remain stationary in similar cases.
The Oct. 2 accident forced Cruise to suspend autonomous operations nationwide after California regulators determined his cars posed a threat to public safety. The California Department of Motor Vehicles revoke the license for Cruise, which carried passengers without human drivers throughout San Francisco.
The accident involved a human-driven vehicle colliding with a pedestrian, causing the person to enter the path of an autonomous cruise vehicle. The Cruise initially stopped, but then veered to the right to get out of traffic, pulling the person forward about 20 feet (six meters).
Cruise says in documents that it already has updated software in test vehicles monitored by human safety drivers. The driverless fleet will receive the new software before resuming operations, the company said.
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Cruise has also tested a robotaxi service in Los Angeles, as well as cities like Phoenix and Austin, Texas.
While the Department of Motor Vehicles did not provide specific reasons for suspending Cruise’s license, the agency accused Cruise of misrepresenting safety information about the autonomous technology in his vehicles. The retraction followed a series of incidents that increased concerns about the dangers and inconveniences caused by Cruise’s robotaxis.
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