Global Courant
Decision is the latest example of regulators raising concerns about the safety of autonomous vehicles.
The US state of California has suspended testing of self-driving Cruise cars developed by General Motors (GM) due to safety concerns following a series of crashes and accidents.
California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announced Tuesday that it has suspended the deployment of GM self-driving vehicles and driverless testing permits, the latest regulator to raise concerns about their safety.
“If there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the DMV may immediately suspend or revoke permits,” the department said in response to a question from news channel AFP.
Self-driving cars have received mixed reactions from the public, some of whom see them as an exciting technological development, while others see them as a nuisance or dangerous.
The suspension follows a series of accidents involving cruise vehicles and marks a serious setback for GM’s efforts to break into the autonomous vehicle industry. Cruise said in a statement that it would pause operations in San Francisco.
Automakers like GM have been betting that self-driving cars will be a key part of the industry’s future, but some have struggled to make progress or address concerns from the public and government agencies.
GM previously called Cruise a “gigantic growth opportunity.” In June, CEO Mary Barra doubled down on forecasts that Cruise would generate $50 billion in annual revenue by 2030.
The company reported on Tuesday that it had lost more than $720 million on Cruise in the third quarter of this year.
On October 2, a woman in San Francisco was hit by a car that put her into the path of an oncoming Cruise autonomous vehicle. A company spokesperson told news channel AFP at the time that the car had “braked aggressively to minimize the impact”.
The car then remained on top of the woman, leaving her trapped under the vehicle until the ambulance arrived. Barra has maintained that self-driving cars have a better safety record than cars driven by humans.
