California authorities have suspended permits that allowed Cruise to test its self-driving cars on public roads.
The reason for this move was that Cruise robotaxis have been involved in a number of incidents that have drawn public criticism, especially in San Francisco.
California authorities were able to revoke their August permit in accordance with existing rules for regulating such activities, citing the presence of an “unjustified risk to public safety.” California authorities, since the launch of full-scale operation of unmanned Cruise taxis in San Francisco in August of this year, have already launched at least two investigations after incidents involving a taxi hitting a firetruck and a pedestrian, respectively; last week, the federal agency NHTSA, which is responsible in the United States for road safety. In all these cases, it was assumed that Cruise would voluntarily suspend the operation of driverless taxis or reduce the number of taxis allowed on the line, but since the first did not happen, the authorities forced the company to do so on its own initiative.
The company itself has said that it is working to improve the response of its drones in critical situations.
