The boss of robotaxi company Cruise has resigned amid the investigation into a pedestrian accident in San Francisco. Kyle Vogt wrote on the online platform X on Monday evening that he now wanted to spend time with his family and pursue new ideas. After the accident, the cruise management’s information policy was also criticized. The company belongs to the automotive giant General Motors.
In the accident at the beginning of October, a self-driving Cruise car dragged a woman several meters. The pedestrian had previously been hit by another vehicle with a human behind the wheel and thrown in front of the self-driving car. According to the accident report, the robotaxi immediately braked, but the woman still fell under the vehicle.
The cruise cars are programmed so that in some cases they automatically move to the side of the road after collisions so as not to disrupt traffic. In this case too, the software decided to do this – even though the woman was still under the car. She was dragged about twenty feet and the car reached a speed of more than seven miles per hour, according to a California traffic authority report.
Cruise has now adjusted the software for its approximately 950 vehicles so that the situation does not repeat itself. In addition, all travel on public roads in the US has been suspended. However, the traffic authority criticized the fact that initially only the first part of the events was made public, but not the fact that the robotaxi tried to drive to the side of the road after the accident with the trapped woman.
San Francisco became a unique test case for self-driving taxis last year. In addition to Cruise, Google sister company Waymo also received approval from a California regulator this summer to expand its self-driving transportation services across the city. The city council and many residents were against it. They argued, among other things, that the vehicles often blocked traffic.
Waymo may continue to offer its driverless robotaxi service throughout San Francisco. Overall, it will take significantly longer for autonomous vehicles to become part of everyday life than predicted a few years ago. Although the technology has worked under simple conditions for a long time, some insiders are now wondering whether the software can be trained to handle all unexpected situations. (sda/dpa)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
