The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) immediately suspended Cruise’s authorization to deploy and test driverless vehicles, terminating Cruise’s robotaxi service in San Francisco.
The revocation of the permit happened just a few months later Cruise had received the final necessary approval to commercialize its business. The reason for the license suspension was that Cruise withheld video footage from an ongoing investigation in which a pedestrian was struck by a human-driven car and then trapped by a Cruise robotaxi.
The DMV explained that at a meeting with Cruise representatives on October 3, she saw video footage of the incident recorded by the autonomous vehicle’s cameras. These images showed the moment the robotaxi stopped abruptly, but they did not show the vehicle making any movement afterward.
The video showed the robotaxi braking and then over the one lying on the ground A pedestrian was driving who was previously hit by a human-driven car had been. Police investigated the incident and NHTSA also opened an investigation.
Cruise kept this quiet and only after discussions with another government agency did the DMV learn of the vehicle’s further movement. It wasn’t until October 13 that the DMV received the full video, which showed the robotaxi attempting to pull over after stopping while the pedestrian was still underneath the vehicle.
The DMV justified the permit suspension by saying Cruise had withheld important information, affecting the agency’s ability to evaluate the safe operation of vehicles and endangering the safety of the public.
Cruise maintained that they provided the full video to the DMV, but the DMV insisted on their decision. The DMV said public safety is its top priority and that it can immediately suspend permits if there is an unreasonable threat to the public’s safety.
Cruise now has to take several steps to get the suspended ones Permits to restore. The suspension does not affect permission for testing with safety drivers.
The DMV justified the suspension by saying the vehicles were not safe for public use and that Cruise had misrepresented information about the autonomous vehicle technology in its vehicles. In addition, Cruise’s testing of autonomous vehicles on public roads poses an unacceptable risk to the public.
The suspension comes shortly after Cruise and the competitor Waymo had received final approval to offer 24/7 robotaxi services in San Francisco. This permit was granted by the California Public Utilities Commission. However, the CPUC permit is worthless without DMV permits allowing the use of driverless vehicles on public roads.
The CPUC granted the permit despite concerns from residents and some city officials who pointed to numerous incidents of vehicles stalling in the middle of the road, hindering traffic, public transit and emergency responders.