Enlarge / A cruise vehicle on the streets of San Francisco.
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Update, 1:37 p.m. ET: Cruise reached out to Ars with the following statement: “Cruise’s safety record is publicly reported and includes driving nearly 700,000 fully autonomous miles in an extremely complex urban environment with no life-threatening injuries or fatalities. This is against the background of more than 40,000 deaths every year on American roads. There is always a balance between healthy regulatory oversight and the innovation we desperately need to save lives, which is why we will continue to work fully with the NHTSA or any other regulator to achieve this common goal.”
Original story: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating Cruise’s robotic taxis after multiple crashes involving the rear-wheel drive autonomous vehicles. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation has launched an investigation into the General Motors-backed autonomous driving startup’s automated driving system and a possible tendency to brake unreasonably hard when another vehicle is rapidly approaching from behind. NHTSA’s ODI is also investigating incidents where Cruise’s AVs have been stopped and become immobile road hazards.
Cruise is one of the leading AV developers and together with Alphabet’s Waymo has deployed true driverless robotaxis, albeit on a small scale so far. It’s developing a futuristic box-on-wheel called Origin, which it hopes will drive on the road without a steering wheel in 2023. But now the company is testing modified Chevrolet Bolt EVs on the streets of San Francisco.
There were a few scrapes and bumps along the way, and earlier this year footage went viral of a Cruise AV appearing to pull away from a traffic stop after being stopped for not having headlights at night.
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In August of this year, Cruise had to recall 80 vehicles equipped with an automated driving system because the software could lead to heavy braking in an unprotected left turn.
Enlarge / The origin of the cruise.
cruise
Cruise says this only happened once out of more than 123,560 unprotected left turns, but “as the Cruise AV made a left turn and began crossing the intersection, the Cruise AV predicted the oncoming vehicle, traveling at approximately 40 miles per hour.” Turn right in the 25 mph turning lane, turn right and straight into the Cruise AV lane. After the Cruise AV decelerated to avoid colliding with the front end of the oncoming vehicle, the oncoming vehicle suddenly left the right-turn lane and continued straight at the intersection, which collided with the rear right quarter panel of the Cruise AV.
That being said, this is a real-world example of the trolley problem, as the AV had to “decide between two different risk scenarios and select the one with the least potential for a serious collision at that point in time, before the oncoming vehicle suddenly made a change of direction,” states the NHTSA Safety Recall Report.
The new investigation involves 242 vehicles and follows three reports of hard braking after another car rapidly approaching from behind. In each case, NHTSA says the other motorist followed the Cruise AV.
Additionally, NHTSA says it has received multiple reports of Cruise AVs being stranded on the road, which is dangerous for all passengers who may need to evacuate a car that is blocking a road or intersection, and for other road users who may be now have to negotiate a new car – major obstacle in their way.
The NHTSA says its preliminary investigation will “determine the scope and severity of the potential issue and fully assess the potential safety-related issues raised by these two types of incidents.”