Driverless Taxi Stops After Running Over Woman... US Robotaxi Faces Continuous 'Warning Signs'

San Francisco Introduces 24-Hour Driverless Taxis
Calls for Caution Following Consecutive Traffic Accidents

In San Francisco, USA, where driverless unmanned taxi (robotaxi) services have been introduced, a series of related traffic accidents have occurred, raising concerns.

According to CBS News and others on the 3rd (local time), a woman was found trapped under a robotaxi at an intersection in downtown San Francisco around 9:30 p.m. the previous day.

Unmanned taxi 'Cruise'. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Police investigation revealed that the woman was first involved in a hit-and-run accident before being trapped under the robotaxi. She was crossing the crosswalk according to the pedestrian signal when she was hit by a vehicle driven by a regular driver. The driver who hit the woman fled the scene. As a result of the impact, the woman was thrown onto the right lane and then trapped under the approaching robotaxi.

At the time, the robotaxi's brakes were activated as soon as it touched the woman's body, but it could only come to a complete stop after running over her. Since there was no one inside the robotaxi, the woman had to wait for rescue while trapped underneath the taxi.

Firefighters who arrived at the scene used rescue equipment to lift the vehicle and pull the woman out. She was seriously injured and transported to a hospital for treatment.

This is not the first time a robotaxi has caused problems. On August 17, at an intersection in the Tenderloin area of downtown San Francisco, a robotaxi 'Cruise' carrying passengers collided with a fire truck that was responding to an emergency call while entering the intersection on a green light. One passenger was injured and taken to the hospital, and the Cruise robotaxi stopped after being hit on its right side by the fire truck.

Additionally, there was an incident where 'Cruise' stopped on a street near the beach, causing a traffic jam lasting more than 15 minutes. In response, Kyle Vogt, CEO of 'Cruise,' defended in an interview with The Washington Post (WP), saying, "We are talking about a 15-minute traffic delay, but on the other hand, (robotaxis) provide many public benefits to the community."

Meanwhile, robotaxis have been allowed to operate commercially 24 hours a day in San Francisco since August. Although there have been a series of robotaxi-related accidents since the start of operations, the fire department explained that this is the first case where a passenger or pedestrian has been seriously injured.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.