A crash involving a robotaxi on a public street is a very serious problem. The situations must be understood so that they can be prevented in the future. This channel is for analyzing what really happened for some of the key incidents. It is also for contrasting with what is claimed by the robotaxi companies.
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Washington Post reports that Cruise settled with the severely injured person who was dragged by their robotaxi October 2nd, 2023. The settlement amount was between $8 million and $12 million, indicating severe and permanently disabling injuries inflicted due to their weak technology.
Forbes article on how a Waymo ran through a red light, causing a rider of a scooter to crash. The vehicle was being remotely operated, and the operator apparently didn't see the red traffic signal. This shows that Waymo has a backup system, but it is not safe either.
An analysis by Michael Smith on the Quinn Emanuel Report (QER) on the October 2nd, 2023 crash where a pedestrian was dragged and seriously injured. The report was commissioned by Cruise to determine what went wrong and how to address the problems, both technical and operational. But the QER failed to address the most important issues and is therefore not an indication that Cruise is moving forward with improving safety.
A summary of the commentary by Missy Cummings on why the Quinn Emanuel Report released by Cruise did not adequately cover deficiencies in Cruise's remote operations. The deficiencies were significant and need to be addressed by regulators. Link provided to Cummings full article.
An investigation by Quinn Emanuel law firm into an October crash involving a Cruise driverless car revealed a lack of clear communication with regulators and prioritization of reputation over safety. Following the incident, the Justice Department and other agencies are investigating, Cruise has halted operations, laid off staff, and replaced its CEO. The self-driving subsidiary of General Motors is now seeking to rebuild trust and resume business..
In a blog post, Cruise published the detailed Quinn Emanuel report on the October 2nd crash where a pedestrian was struck by a Cruise AV after a hit-and-run incident. Despite Cruise's claim of no intentional deceit, the report uncovers procedural and leadership shortcomings, leading to misinformation and incomplete disclosures to regulators and the media. This resulted in the suspension of Cruise's driverless permits. Changes including high-level employee departures and operational overhauls are being implemented.
Detailed crash analysis (completed 1/23/2024, before Quinn report was made available): On 10/2/23 a pedestrian in San Francisco crossed 5th Street at Market Street in the crosswalk as the light turned red. The pedestrian was first hit by a human-driven vehicle, remained on the hood for a distance, and then fell into the adjacent lane. A Cruise robotaxi in the adjacent lane hit the pedestrian and stopped. The Cruise vehicle then proceeded another 20 feet, dragging the pedestrian underneath the vehicle. The pedestrian was severely injured by the Cruise robotaxi. Regulators shut down Cruise service for providing misinformation.
Seminal article from Forbes by Cyrus Farivar that broke the story on how pedestrian was hit and dragged for 20’ by Cruise vehicle. This article completely changed the narrative of the incident. Note: Robotaxi Insider, a frequent contributor to the site, provided the source material to the reporter to break this important story.
Crash Analysis: 8/18/23 Cruise vehicle crashed with other vehicle at 26th St & Mission St in San Francisco. When a Cruise vehicle detects a problem it stops for “safety”. But this crash shows that doing so can actually be incredibly dangerous and result in serious damage. Cruise never acknowledged the dangerous behavior and apparently never addressed it.
Crash analysis: 8/17/23 Cruise vehicle crashed with a firetruck on an emergency call. Cruise seriously misrepresented what went went wrong and appeared to never address the root problem of their vehicles not stopping for emergency responders.
Crash analysis: 8/7/23 Cruise crashed with a semi-truck on Stanyan St in San Francisco. Definitely not safe to try to overtake a truck that is clearly turning in front of you. Once again, the Cruise robotaxi stopped exactly in the wrong place and was damaged because of lack of defensive driving abilities.
Crash analysis: on 3/23/23 a Cruise vehicle crashed into the rear of an articulated Muni bus while traveling on Haight Street in San Francisco. Cruise claimed that the problem was due to poor speed prediction of the articulated bus, and that they fixed the problem via a software recall. But this analysis shows that they were not being truthful and that the danger might still exist.
Crash Analysis: on 6/3/2022 a Cruise robotaxi was traveling eastbound on Geary Blvd. At Spruce St the Cruise made a left turn. Before completing the left turn the Cruise stopped in the path of an oncoming car, resulting in a collision. Cruise was very misleading about the cause of the crash.
