General Motors’ robotaxi company Cruise has made the decision to halt its entire driverless fleet nationwide following the suspension of its license to operate in California. The announcement was made earlier this week after the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) confirmed that the ban was related to an accident.
The DMV raised concerns about the performance of the vehicles, accusing the company of potential data misrepresentation and making choices that compromised public safety. In response, Cruise expressed its commitment to rebuilding public trust, even if it means going through difficult and uncomfortable changes.
“Cruise has decided to proactively pause driverless operations across all of our fleets while we take the necessary time to examine our processes, systems, and tools. We will reflect on how we can improve our operations to regain public trust,” stated the company in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This suspension comes as a setback for GM, which has been a partial owner of Cruise since 2016. As part of its future plans, GM intends to expand its driverless taxi service throughout the United States and has projected that Cruise could generate $50 billion in annual sales by 2030.
The DMV cited three state regulations for the suspension, primarily due to safety concerns arising from an accident. In their statement, GM explained that during the incident under review by the DMV, a pedestrian was hit by a hit-and-run driver and thrown into the path of an autonomous vehicle (AV). The AV braked aggressively upon impact and attempted to pull over to minimize further risks. After briefly continuing its operation, it eventually came to a final stop, pulling the pedestrian forward.
General Motors did not provide an immediate response to a request for comment regarding the situation.
