A woman crossing a busy downtown San Francisco street suffered serious injuries when a hit-and-run driver collided with her, throwing her into the path of an oncoming driverless Cruise car that ran her over. The incident was captured by the autonomous vehicle’s recording which Cruise shared with the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit.
Courtesy NBC Bay Area
Federal auto safety regulators have launched an investigation into Cruise following pedestrian injuries involving their driverless vehicles. The probe aims to determine whether Cruise’s automated driving systems demonstrated proper caution around pedestrians on the road, according to a filing on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website stated.
NHTSA initiated the investigation into Cruise on Monday. It was prompted by two reports of pedestrian injuries involving Cruise vehicles in recent months. The filing also mentioned two additional incidents identified through videos posted on public websites.
The investigation focuses on approximately 594 self-driving Cruise vehicles, as stated in the filing.
One incident on October 2 involved a situation where a pedestrian was thrown by another vehicle into the path of a driverless Cruise vehicle. This incident matches the details of a hit-and-run crash in San Francisco, which resulted in one pedestrian being hospitalized.
At the time of the incident, Cruise reported that its autonomous vehicle braked aggressively and was actively cooperating with the San Francisco police to identify the hit-and-run driver. Cruise stated that they had spoken with the NHTSA about the incident and provided video footage, adding that no further questions were raised by the regulator.
The other incident occurred in August. According to the incident report, a Cruise autonomous vehicle traveling at approximately 1.4 miles per hour collided with a pedestrian who entered a crosswalk after the stoplight had turned green and the vehicle was allowed to proceed. The pedestrian was subsequently transported by emergency medical services, complaining of knee pain.
Cruise stated that the NHTSA had not contacted the company regarding the August incident or the two incidents apparently posted on social media.
“Cruise’s safety record over 5 million miles continues to surpass that of human drivers at a time when pedestrian injuries and fatalities are at an all-time high,” said Cruise spokesperson Hannah Lindow in a statement to CNBC. “Cruise maintains regular communication with the NHTSA and has consistently cooperated with all requests for information, whether related to an investigation or not, and we intend to continue doing so.”
The company, along with Alphabet subsidiary Waymo, has been deploying its vehicles throughout San Francisco for several months. Critics of the autonomous driving rollout, including some San Francisco emergency responders, have highlighted instances where driverless vehicles have obstructed emergency vehicles.
Proponents argue that driverless vehicles are safer than human-driven ones. Other companies, including some based in China, have also obtained permits to test driverless vehicles on San Francisco streets.
— CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.
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