Cruise's robocars paralysed traffic in San Francisco just after state authorities allowed the company to expand drone operations in the city

On 11 August around 23:00, ten Cruise unmanned cars paralysed traffic in the central part of San Francisco. The incident occurred just after the California authorities allowed the company to expand the use of robot cars in the city.

Here's What We Know

Traffic was halted for at least 15 minutes. According to the representatives of the company, the disruption occurred due to problems with cellular communication.

The traffic jam sparked another flurry of criticism of the robocars among city residents. At a hearing last week, representatives from the fire service, police and municipal transport agency produced a report of at least 600 incidents involving unmanned vehicles since June 2022.

Opponents of the robo-cars demanded that authorities not allow Cruise and Waymo to operate unmanned vehicles in San Francisco around the clock. However, the commission voted in favour.

Go Deeper:

• A viral video of a "reckless" robotaxi in San Francisco has sparked a storm of outrage
• Cruise and Waymo have labelled humans as bad drivers and called for faster adoption of robotaxis
• Opponents of robotaxis in San Francisco have declared war on unmanned cars
• Waymo and Cruise have received approval for 24-hour paid robotaxi rides in San Francisco

Source: CNBC