WionDrive News Desk 
In a move prompted by a recent crash involving one of its robotaxis, General Motors’ (GM) self-driving unit, Cruise, has announced the recall of 950 driverless cars in the United States. The decision comes in response to concerns about the collision detection subsystem of the Cruise Automated Driving Systems (ADS) software, which may exhibit improper responses following a crash.
According to a notice released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Wednesday, the recall is based on the potential for the Cruise AV (autonomous vehicle) to attempt to pull over out of traffic instead of remaining stationary in situations where a pullover is not the desired post-collision response. This marks a significant setback for GM’s Cruise unit, which has been facing increased scrutiny over the reliability and safety of its autonomous driving technology.
The recent crash that triggered this recall occurred last month in San Francisco, where a pedestrian was struck by a hit-and-run driver, thrown into an adjacent lane, and subsequently hit a second time by a Cruise robotaxi that was unable to stop in time, resulting in the pedestrian being dragged. This incident underscores the challenges and risks associated with the deployment of autonomous vehicles on public roads.
GM Chief Executive Mary Barra, despite forecasting in June that Cruise could generate $50 billion in revenue by 2030, acknowledged the need for improvement. The recall comes at a time when Cruise is grappling with financial challenges, having reported a loss of over $700 million in the third quarter of this year. In response to the news of the recall, GM shares fell by 1.6% to $27.95 on Wednesday.
Cruise has been proactive in addressing safety concerns and temporarily halted operations nationwide last month after California regulators suspended the robotaxi operator’s licence, citing concerns that the self-driving vehicles posed a risk to public safety. Additionally, Cruise announced on Monday that it is temporarily halting production of its fully autonomous Cruise Origin.
The company revealed that it identified the potential for a similar collision, with a risk of serious injury, to occur every 10 million to 100 million miles of driving on average before the implementation of a software update. Cruise acknowledges the need for ongoing improvements in its software and anticipates filing additional recalls to keep both the NHTSA and the public informed about updates aimed at enhancing the safety of its autonomous vehicle fleet.
Cruise is currently facing two federal investigations over the safety of its autonomous cars, with a focus on incidents where the robot cars allegedly failed to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. In response to these challenges, Cruise is actively searching for a chief safety officer and has enlisted the services of law firm Quinn Emanuel to conduct an external review.
Cruise, based in various locations including Phoenix, Arizona; Houston, Austin, and Dallas in Texas; and Miami, is engaged in a competitive race with Alphabet’s Waymo and other industry players to bring fully autonomous vehicles to the market. The recall underscores the complexity and ongoing challenges associated with the development and deployment of autonomous driving technology in real-world scenarios.
