Cruise recalls its entire fleet of self-driving taxis in the US

Cruise, the self-driving car unit of General Motors, has halted all operations on public roads, extending a recent pause in operations of self-driving taxis to vehicles with human backup drivers. This expansion follows an initial suspension of driverless operations in October, a move triggered by an incident where a pedestrian was struck, dragged, and seriously injured by a self-driving vehicle after initially being struck by an adjacent human-driven vehicle.

California revoked Cruise’s driverless vehicle operating permit shortly after the October crash, saying its vehicles are “not safe for the public’s operation” and pose “an unreasonable risk to the public.”

In a blog post, Cruise disclosed its decision to “pause our supervised and manual AV operations in the U.S.”. The stoppage aims to rebuild public trust while the company undertakes a comprehensive safety review. To further investigate the October incident, Cruise has expanded the scope of analysis conducted by Exponent, a third-party consulting firm. This expanded review now encompasses a thorough examination of safety systems and technology.

Until recently Cruise had driverless car operations in major U.S. cities like San Francisco, Austin, Phoenix, Miami, and Houston.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is separately investigating reports of Cruise cars potentially endangering pedestrians in their path.