Cruise automated vehicles are already being watched closely due to their potentially becoming a danger to driver-controlled cars. In addition to previous accidents that have already happened, a Cruise taxi was unfortunately involved in a human-caused incident.
And Incident That Cause an Accident
On a Monday evening in San Francisco, a female pedestrian was hit by a car while she was crossing the street at Market and Fifth. The driver that caused the accident sped away as the woman was thrown across and into the path of a driverless Cruise robotaxi.
The AV managed to halt when it saw the woman as an obstacle on the road, but it did as her leg was already under the vehicle's wheels, which resulted in her being pinned by the car. A bystander says the victim saw the woman struck by the first car causing her to roll off the side.
The traffic light was green which was why the taxi drove toward the woman's way. According to Engadget, a delivery worker was trying to calm the woman down saying that an ambulance was on its way, but she just screamed as her leg was stuck under the Cruise taxi's rear and axle tire.
The firefighters arrived at the scene and used a hydraulic rescuing tool to lift the vehicle up and pull the woman out. She was then transported to San Francisco General Hospital which according to Fire Captain Justin Schorr, had multiple traumatic injuries.
Cruise Communications Manager Hannah Lindow says that the initial impact was already severe as it "launched the pedestrian directly in front of the AV." The vehicle merely braked to minimize the impact. The automated vehicle stayed in place at the request of the police.
The automated vehicle company is cooperating with the police to identify the driver who hit the pedestrian and drove off. The only available information about the vehicle was that it was green. The available footage of the incident will be reviewed to gather more evidence.
Fewer Cruise Taxis Will Be Available
The incident comes as Cruise is already cutting the number of operational vehicles by half as demanded by the California Department of Motor Vehicles. This was after a driverless taxi hit a parked firetruck. The company was approved for an expansion just a week prior.
In San Francisco alone, Cruise had 400 working cars, 50 of which were deployed during the day and 150 by night. Cruise spokesperson Drew Pusateri says that Cruise "positively impacts overall road safety," compared to the injuries on the road, as per The New York Times.
However, records show that Cruise vehicles actually caused interference that wouldn't have happened with a human-driven vehicle. There have been ten cases of Cruise AVs stopping in the middle of the street in the North Beach area, blocking traffic for 15 minutes.
The vehicles were also involved in other incidents such as 55 documented cases where the AVs got in the way or delayed emergency vehicles. One case even delayed firefighters who were on their way to extinguish a house fire.
