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(1/3) The most important thing for us right now is to take steps to rebuild public trust. Part of this involves taking a hard look inwards and at how we do work at Cruise, even if it means doing things that are uncomfortable or difficult. Cruise had so many Chevy Bolts, the company ran out of spaces to charge the battery-powered vehicles. Three large propane generators were brought in on trailers to 4716 East Fifth Street near Springdale Avenue.
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Some residents were just weirded out by gangs of robot cars roaming in packs through their neighborhood. The company already has a substantial list of existing incidents in Austin. Less than a week ago, I wrote about the big win for Cruise and Waymo in San Francisco. After months of debate and even a delayed vote by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), they got approval to run their robotaxis commercially 24/7 in San Francisco. “As someone who has honestly dealt with Cruise cars myself … it never seemed like they were ready for prime time,” he said. Qadri said he’s pleased with Cruise's decision to suspend services.
Cruise found its robotaxi fleet in a (literal) jam in Austin
The firm behind some of Austin’s ever-present autonomous vehicles is under investigation by federal officials after pedestrians were hit by self-driving cars in San Francisco. Cruise said it was reevaluating its operations and trying to earn public trust after it became the subject of a federal investigation for multiple incidents involving pedestrians in San Francisco. City council members are powerless, and the Austin Transportation and Public Works Department can't really do anything to stop Cruise from operating on its streets.
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In a statement Tuesday, Cruise said the hit-and-run incident occurred when a human driver of a Nissan Sentra collided with a pedestrian who was crossing the street against a red light. The decision came two days after the California Department of Motor Vehicles declared Cruise's vehicles unsafe and yanked the the company's driverless testing permits. California also prevents cities from regulating self-driving cars. The actual cause of the jam remains unknown, though it's not uncommon for Cruise vehicles to become stuck and require human intervention—also known as a Vehicle Recovery Event. The individual who posted the photos and videos said they observed the Cruise workers trying to operate the cars via remote control to remediate the situation. A spokesperson hinted that the problem may have been related to pedestrian traffic, though the footage circulating social media does not show an abundance of people nearby during the gridlock.
Those incidents have been piling up since Cruise began operating driverless cars in Austin last year. Records obtained by KUT show residents calling 311 to say they were almost hit by autonomous vehicles. A video posted by a Reddit user vividly portrays the scene—a swarm of Cruise’s robotaxis creating a gridlock on a narrow Austin street. According to Cruise, the traffic debacle unfolded because their fleet found itself in an area with high demand and heavy pedestrian and passenger vehicle traffic. One of their autonomous vehicles got ensnared at an intersection during a turn, compounding the traffic chaos.
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The company also clarified in the same post thread that the decision was not related to any new on-road incidents and that supervised autonomous vehicle operations will continue. Austin's Downtown Commission met with staff from the driverless rideshare company Cruise on Wednesday. Cruise currently operates at least 50 cars in Austin and just recently launched in Houston after a trial run. The company said it was suspending self-driving car operations nationwide to "reflect on how we can better operate in a way that will earn public trust." Local news channel KVUE also outlined a separate incident that occurred earlier this week involving a Cruise vehicle stopped in an intersection. That incident caught the eye of Austin City Council Member Zohaib Qadri.
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West Austin neighbors petition against self-driving cars - KXAN.com
West Austin neighbors petition against self-driving cars.
Posted: Sun, 24 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Robotaxis haven't enjoyed the best public image over the past year. From unmanned traffic jams to protestors condoning straight-up vandalism against cars, both Cruise and Waymo have had a rough start in San Francisco. So much so that the officials who granted them seemingly unfettered access to the city have reined in the driverless cars to avoid further public outcry, at least for the time being.
Cruise Robotaxi Fleet Causes Gridlock On Austin Street - InsideEVs
Cruise Robotaxi Fleet Causes Gridlock On Austin Street.
Posted: Fri, 22 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Cruise halts driverless car operations in Austin as company aims to 'rebuild public trust'
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) started its investigation Monday, saying that the cars may not be exercising caution around pedestrians. In a statement, a Cruise spokesperson said its safety record is "outperforming" human drivers and that the company is complying with information requests from the federal government. In Austin, the home of vibrant music and innovation, Cruise’s robotaxis became unwitting participants in a traffic congestion incident that has sparked discussions about the readiness of autonomous vehicles and their role in urban mobility. Residents in cities with self-driving car services have occasionally taken matters into their own hands, with some resorting to covering sensors on these electric vehicles with traffic cones, effectively halting their progress.
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Cruise cars that are being operated by humans will still be on the roads. In an email to KUT, the company said the decision is not related to any new on-road incidents. “You’re taught, when you’re riding a bike that you have to make eye contact with the driver, or when you’re crossing the street, you have to make eye contact with the driver at every stop sign intersection. So it’s kind of hard to predict what they’re going to do at an intersection,” said Qadri. The last thing I want to see is someone getting hit by a car, whether a pedestrian or cyclist, and get injured,” said Qadri.
Texas does require autonomous vehicle operators to report accidents and incidents with local authorities, and vehicles must be registered. In a statement to KUT, Cruise said it "has consistently cooperated with each of NHTSA’s requests for information," whether cases warrant an investigation or not, and that it would continue to do so. Cruise added that the two incidents account for a sliver of the more than 5 million miles traveled by its driverless vehicles.
Meanwhile, the meeting with Cruise comes as federal regulators began an investigation into the company's vehicle following reports that two pedestrians were injured in San Francisco. Earlier in September, Austin firefighters responded to a car crash around 3 a.m. When they arrived, four Cruise employees were already there, an incident report said. Cruise told KUT the empty vehicle had been hit by a driver running a stop sign. On other occasions, firefighters wrote, Cruise employees struggled to move their own disabled vehicles out of the way of traffic. Cruise, which is a subsidiary of General Motors, has had an Austin presence since September 2022.
Another incident involving a pedestrian didn’t result in serious injury, the firm said. The fact that they're EVs has nothing to do with how or why they caused a traffic jam. But that hasn't stopped residents from complaining about blocked intersections and interference with emergency services.
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