GM's Cruise To Halt Driverless Ops In San Francisco After DMV Suspension — Reiterates Enhanced Safety Despite Accident

General Motors Co‘s GM autonomous vehicle subsidiary, Cruise, said on Tuesday that it will be pausing autonomous vehicle operations in San Francisco following a directive from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

DMV Suspends License: California DMV suspended Cruise’s autonomous vehicle deployment and driverless testing permits on Tuesday citing ‘unreasonable risk’ to public safety. The authority further alleged that the company misrepresented information on the safety of its autonomous technology.

Cruise Responds: In response to the suspension, Cruise on Tuesday released a statement, detailing its end of what it thinks happened in the accident dated Oct.2 and involving one of its vehicles. The incident is currently being reviewed by DMV.

Cruise claims that a pedestrian was launched in front of its vehicle after being hit by a human driver in a dark Nissan Sentra in the adjacent lane. The autonomous vehicle struck the pedestrian despite attempting to brake, the company said.

“The AV detected a collision, bringing the vehicle to a stop; then attempted to pull over to avoid causing further road safety issues, pulling the individual forward approximately 20 feet,” it said.

The company however reiterated that its vehicles are safer than human drivers in urban environments and that a simulation performed after the collision showed that the collision would never have happened if it was a Cruise AV instead of the human driver. “We wish this has been the case,” it said.

Why It's Important: It was only last month that both Cruise and Alphabet Inc‘s self-driving technology unit, Waymo, received permits for 24/7 fare-based autonomous operations in San Francisco. This was despite resistance from several quarters, including the police and fire departments, together with several residents who opposed scaling autonomous vehicles, citing undue interference and unpredictable driving.

With the recent suspension, Waymo risks increased uncertainty and so does Tesla Inc‘s future autonomous robotaxi with suspicion for the potential of autonomous driving technology rising. This can also likely increase regulatory hurdles for Tesla’s upcoming vehicles and decrease customer uptake for autonomous ride-hailing as safety fears surge.

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