California regulators on Tuesday ordered Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, to shut down its driverless taxi service in San Francisco after a series of traffic accidents, including one this month when a Cruise car dragged a pedestrian 20 feet after an accident.
The state Department of Motor Vehicles’ decision followed a turbulent three months for Cruise. In early August, state regulators allowed Cruise to expand its service in the city after San Francisco authorities objected. But a little more than a week later, the DMV asked Cruise to halve its fleet in the city.
On October 2, a pedestrian was struck by a car, then struck by a Cruise vehicle and pinned under the driverless car. While attempting to stop, the cruise car dragged the pedestrian until it stopped. Cruise said his autonomous vehicle “braked aggressively” and blamed the human driver for the incident.
At an initial meeting with Cruise after the accident in October, the company showed footage from the car’s cameras that ended with the self-driving vehicle coming to a complete stop after hitting the pedestrian, according to the DMV. DMV officials later learned through “discussions with another government agency” that the pedestrian had also been dragged, according to a stop order sent to Cruise.
In a statement, Cruise said they had shown the agency “the entire video multiple times.”
The suspension is a major setback for Cruise, which began testing its autonomous cars in San Francisco several years ago and launched a limited driverless taxi service in the city last year.
It’s also an unwelcome development for the emerging self-driving car industry. Big tech and automotive companies have invested billions of dollars in the technology, and the expensive cars have only just begun to gain some mainstream acceptance in recent months. The decision by California regulators could increase calls for federal regulators to take a closer look at the technology.
“If there is a disproportionate risk to public safety, the DMV may immediately suspend or revoke permits,” the agency said in a statement. It did not say how long the suspension would last.
In one post On Cruise can still test its autonomous cars in California, but must have safety drivers who can take over in an emergency.
In a call with financial analysts Tuesday morning ahead of the government action, GM Chief Executive Mary T. Barra said the driverless cars had been involved in far fewer collisions than human drivers, but she acknowledged regulators’ concerns.
“We believe Cruise has tremendous growth and expansion opportunities,” Ms. Barra said. “Safety will be our deciding factor.” She added that GM has plans to support Cruise’s expansion.
Ms. Barra also said GM would say more about Cruise when the company reports its fourth-quarter results in three months and at a one-day investor presentation expected to take place in the first half of 2024. Cruise’s spending was $700 million last quarter, according to a transcript of the call.
The cruise cars drew strong criticism from local security officials. They complained that they were becoming a nuisance and hindering firefighting and other emergency situations. These complaints have become increasingly louder in recent months as the Cruise vehicles have been involved in several high-profile incidents.
Shortly after another state regulator, the California Public Utilities Commission, approved the expansion of service, at least 10 Cruise vehicles stopped operating in the middle of a busy street in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, blocking traffic for 15 minutes. A few days later, a Cruise vehicle drove into a city paving project and became stuck in wet concrete.
The day before the DMV announced its investigation into Cruise’s safety record, a fire truck responding to an emergency call collided with a driverless Cruise taxi on Aug. 17, injuring a passenger in the car.
Less than two weeks ago, Cruise announced that it had released major updates to the software that controls its self-driving cars, making it easier for them to interact with firefighters and other security officials. These updates included the ability to manually take over the vehicle. Emergency responders had to contact cruise staff to remotely control the cars if they were in the way.
On Oct. 16, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into Cruise’s interactions with pedestrians, including the person being pulled by a Cruise car. In a statement to X, Cruise called the incident an “extremely rare event.”
At a San Francisco County Transportation Authority hearing Tuesday morning, Aaron Peskin, chairman of the city’s oversight board, said the self-driving car industry is “not safe and immune from any government regulatory oversight.”
“If there is any evidence of San Francisco’s position, we just received it today in full force from the Department of Motor Vehicles, although unfortunately quite late,” Mr. Peskin said.
On Tuesday, Cruise had 50 self-driving cars in use during the day and 150 at night.
Cruise’s main competitor, Waymo, will continue to operate its autonomous cars in San Francisco. Waymo, which is owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, has so far avoided high-profile incidents. A Waymo spokesman declined to comment.
Matt Wansley, a professor at the Cardozo School of Law in New York who specializes in new automotive technologies, called on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to decide whether Cruise service should also be suspended in other states where the same Technology is being tested.
“If Cruise’s vehicles are unsafe in California, they should be unsafe in other states,” he said in an interview with The New York Times. “There are inconsistent regulations across the country.”
Mr. Wansley said that while regulators and experts could easily point to accidents involving Cruise vehicles that would not have happened if a person had been behind the wheel, that was not the case with Waymo’s cars.
“Companies should be judged on their performance in road safety, and there is a significant difference between Cruise and Waymo,” he said.
Neal E. Boudette contributed reporting from Michigan.