SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Cruise’s autonomous vehicle deployment and driverless testing permits were suspended by the California Department of Motor Vehicles Tuesday morning. The DMV cited “an unreasonable risk to public safety” as being behind the closure.
The DMV said its autonomous vehicle regulations “provide a framework to facilitate the safe testing and deployment” of autonomous vehicle technology on California’s public roads. “When there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the DMV can immediately suspend or revoke permits,” the DMV said.
The DMV said it notified Cruise of the suspension on Tuesday and that the suspension was effective immediately. The agency said it had provided Cruise with the steps needed to reapply to reinstate its suspended permits.
The DMV said it would not approve the reinstatement until the company “has fulfilled the requirements to the department’s satisfaction.”
There have been a number of high-profile incidents of Cruise driverless vehicles malfunctioning on San Francisco city streets. The DMV’s official order of suspension cites an Oct. 2 incident in which a pedestrian was struck by another vehicle around 5th and Market Streets and fell into the path of a Cruise.
The AV collided with and ran over the pedestrian before trying to perform a pullover maneuver with the pedestrian underneath the vehicle. During a subsequent meeting with Cruise reps on Oct. 3, the company did not disclose the vehicle’s attempting to perform a pullover maneuver, the DMV said.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey accused Cruise of “selective disclosure of video evidence” related to the Oct. 2 crash. “It showed that its initial reaction to a gravely serious public safety incident was to treat it as a PR problem — and that’s not okay,” Dorsey said.
The DMV said the suspension does not impact Cruise’s permit for testing with a safety driver.
KRON4 has reached out to Cruise for a response, but we have not heard back at this time.
