In what appears to be the first safety incident involving a Cruise self-driving car, one person has been injured after a Cruise robotaxi collided with a fire truck in San Francisco.
The incident happened early Sunday morning when the Cruise robotic vehicle, carrying two passengers, was travelling on Stockton Street at the intersection of Post Street. The Cruise vehicle collided with a fire truck that was travelling in the opposite direction. The crash left one of the passengers with minor injuries and all three occupants of the vehicle were taken to the hospital for observation.
The San Francisco Municipal Police Department is investigating the accident but according to a tweet from Cruise spokesperson Ray Wert, “preliminary data suggests our vehicle had the right of way.” Cruise vehicles, powered by GM’s Autonomous vehicle technology, are required by law to yield to emergency vehicles.
The incident highlights the risks that come with the adoption of autonomous vehicles on public roads and could have implications for the development of self-driving cars. Currently, only a few companies have been approved for testing their robotic vehicles on public roads and while, so far, the cars have passed several preliminary tests, the rise of these vehicles has been met with some skepticism from the public about their safety.
For now, Cruise has suspended its testing operations in San Francisco as it continues to investigate the incident. In a statement, CEO Dan Ammann said “We take this incident very seriously and will be working with the police and taking actions as necessary to ensure the safety of our passengers.”
As the development of autonomous vehicles continues, it is likely that more incidents like this will occur as the cars become more commonplace on roads around the world. It is vital that companies like Cruise continue to improve the safety of their technology to ensure that these incidents don’t become more frequent.
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