Cruise is recalling 950 unmanned vehicles after one of them dragged a pedestrian it hit on the road

Cruise

Cruise, a division of GM, has announced a recall of 950 of its unmanned vehicles following an incident in October when one of the robot taxis struck a pedestrian who was hit.

Here's What We Know

On 2 October, a human-driven car hit a pedestrian in San Francisco, throwing him under the wheels of a Cruise drone that was passing nearby. The robotaxi then tried to pull over to the side of the road, dragging the pedestrian 20 metres and seriously injuring him.

The company plans to update the software of the collision detection subsystem in this regard. Once corrected, the car should remain stationary during certain crashes, rather than pulling over to the side of the road.

In the recall notice, Cruise acknowledges that in some situations, this behaviour of the car "is not the desired post-collision response". In this case, the system incorrectly characterised the collision as a side collision and gave the command to pull off the road.

It took three weeks to assess the impact of the accident. As a result, the company determined that such an error can occur once every 10 to 100 million miles travelled.

Flashback

After the incident, California authorities suspended Cruise's licence to use drones. Regulators also accused the company of withholding snippets of video from the accident scene.

Cruise claims to have shown the agency the entire video. At the same time, the company suspended fleet operations nationwide due to a review of safety protocols.

The company has also suspended production of its fully unmanned Cruise Origin shuttles, which lack traditional controls like a steering wheel and pedals.

Source: The Verge