© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A self-driving GM Bolt EV is seen during a media event where Cruise, GM’s self-driving car unit, showcased its self-driving cars in San Francisco, California, United States, November 28, 2017 REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage/File Photo
By Greg Bensinger
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Days after General Motors’ Cruise self-driving car unit took all its vehicles off U.S. roads for a safety review, it continues testing them on public roads in Dubai and the Japan, Reuters has learned.
Cruise said this week that it had suspended all road trips in the United States – including those with a safety driver aboard the vehicle – and expanded the scope of its internal investigation following an October accident that attracted the attention of regulators. Earlier this month, it suspended all fully autonomous rides and recalled 950 vehicles.
A Cruise spokesperson confirmed that its overseas vehicles, identical to those in the United States, were still undergoing public testing overseas, saying it was a “small pilot” .
When asked why it was safe for them to drive on public roads in Japan and Dubai, while apparently not in the United States, the spokesperson replied: “It This is the decision we made. » He did not provide details on the number of vehicles tested in these regions.
In a November 14 blog post, Cruise wrote that “this orderly pause is another step in restoring public trust while we conduct a comprehensive security review.”
The company wrote that it “will continue to operate our vehicles in closed training environments and maintain an active simulation program in order to remain focused on advancing AV technology.”
Cruise needs to clarify the difference between overseas and U.S. testing, said Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina who has studied transportation issues.
“It’s reasonable to ask why they think it’s safe to let these cars drive in other parts of the world, if they take them off the road here,” he said. “Cruise needs to explain the difference.”
He noted that even with a driver at the helm, no autonomous vehicle is perfectly safe, citing the Uber (NYSE:) accident in Arizona in 2018, where a woman was killed after being struck by the one of the company’s self-driving cars that had a driver. .
Cruise cars in the United States were recalled because the collision detection subsystem may not respond properly after a crash, according to an advisory released at the time by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
At issue is an October 2 accident in which a cruiser dragged a female pedestrian in San Francisco after hitting her.
In November, California regulators ordered Cruise to remove its driverless cars from state roads, saying the vehicles posed a risk to the public and that the company had “misrepresented” the safety of the technology.
The state regulator said Cruise did not initially release all video footage of the crash.
Cruise said he showed California Department of Motor Vehicle officials the full video of the crash several times and provided a copy to officials. Cruise has since launched an internal review of the response to regulators and the company’s automated driving system.
Cruise, along with Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:) Waymo, is among the most recognizable autonomous vehicle companies today. As recently as October, hundreds of self-driving cars were ferrying passengers around San Francisco and announced aggressive expansion plans.
In Dubai, cruise vehicles have been seen recently mainly on a few islands on the outskirts of the main city. In August, they were offering free rides in partnership with a local company known as TXAI.
In Japan, Honda (NYSE:) and Cruise have jointly tested autonomous vehicles on public roads in the city of Utsunomiya – a regional center of around 513,000 residents – and the adjacent town of Haga. The vehicles are tested at what is called Level 2 autonomy, which requires the presence of a safety driver at all times.
Honda is an investor in Cruise.
