Oops! Self-driving cars can miss children

In Europe, fully self-driving cars are not allowed on the roads. And that’s a good thing, because in the USA – where this is allowed – they work anything but perfectly.

The American company Cruise, owned by General Motors, is developing self-driving taxis, which, strangely enough, were allowed to drive on the road in California without a “safety driver”.

Authorization for self-driving cars

We deliberately write “may” because California revoked Cruise’s license after a serious accident with one of the taxis. An autonomous Chevy Bolt EV struck a pedestrian and dragged the injured victim more than 20 feet.

recognize children

Cruise insists its self-driving cars are safe, but internal communications show otherwise. For example, the cars might not be able to see large holes in the road or children.

During a test with a toddler doll, a Bolt EV traveling at 45 km/h hit the doll with its side mirror. And yet Cruise left the cars on public roads.

Remotely monitored

Cruise’s robotaxis are continuously monitored remotely. Fifteen to twenty cars have one person behind the wheel.

The fact that self-driving cars are not yet ready for use is shown by how often these people have to intervene or help from a distance: on average every 4 to 8 kilometers.

Big loss

Cruise isn’t exactly a success for General Motors. From January to September, Cruise lost almost $2 billion (the equivalent of more than 1.8 billion euros).

In the past, Cruise’s self-driving cars have had problems coming to a sudden stop. There was also a collision with a fire truck.