Emergency Fire Truck Dispatched Within 7 Days of Launch and a 'Bang'... Ongoing Concerns Over US Driverless Taxis
by Kim Eunha
Published 19 Aug.2023 10:35(KST)
Updated 19 Aug.2023 10:41(KST)
First Accident Within a Week of 24-Hour Operation
An unmanned taxi operating in San Francisco, California, USA, caused an accident just seven days after starting 24-hour operations.
The autonomous vehicle operator Cruise, owned by American automaker General Motors (GM), announced on the 18th (local time) via social media platform X that the unmanned taxi collided with a fire truck at an intersection in the Tenderloin area of downtown San Francisco around 10 p.m. on the 17th.
There was a passenger inside the taxi. The taxi entered the intersection when the light turned green, but it could not avoid the collision with the fire truck that was responding to an emergency call.
The taxi was hit on its right side by the fire truck and came to a stop. The passenger was taken to the hospital and was reported by the company to have not been seriously injured.
The accident is presumed to have occurred because Cruise failed to properly recognize the emergency vehicle.
The local fire authorities have previously expressed concerns about unmanned taxi operations, stating, "We cannot pay attention to autonomous vehicles at emergency rescue scenes."
This is not the first time an unmanned taxi has caused problems. On the 11th, a taxi stopped on the street, causing a traffic jam for more than 15 minutes. It was reported that the system designating vehicle routes had issues due to many people using their mobile phones during a music festival held in the nearby area.
GM's autonomous vehicle 'Cruise' and Google's 'Waymo' have been operating robotaxis only at night in San Francisco since 2022, and obtained permission to operate 24 hours a day starting from the 10th of this month. 'Cruise' operates 300 vehicles at night and 100 during the day, while 'Waymo' operates 250 vehicles.
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