A pedestrian in San Francisco faces multiple life-threatening injuries after a driver hit her and an autonomous vehicle then ran over her. Authorities struggled to free the woman from underneath the Cruise AV. The incident raises concerns about how autonomous vehicles will handle future incidents.
Authorities say that a human-driven vehicle hit a pedestrian late on Monday night before speeding away. As a result, it pushed the person directly in front of an autonomous Cruise vehicle which itself ran over the woman and came to a stop on top of her. Cruise released a statement that was quick to point out how the car itself wasn’t at fault for the initial contact.
“The initial impact was severe and launched the pedestrian directly in front of the AV. The AV then braked aggressively to minimize the impact. The driver of the other vehicle fled the scene,” it said. According to San Francisco Fire Department spokesperson Justin Schorr, the woman suffered several life-threatening injuries.
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The San Francisco Chronicle says that one witness submitted a photo that appeared to show the AV stopped on the leg of the woman as she lay beneath it. Firefighters communicated with Cruise to disable the vehicle and then used the jaws of life to lift it off of the woman.
Cruise says that it’s cooperating with local law enforcement by providing footage from the crash and applicable data. At the same time, the incident calls into question the way that AVs handle situations like this. It’s plausible that there was no way to avoid the accident due to its unpredictable nature.
If it’s true that the Cruise AV ended up essentially parked on this woman’s leg, then it’s clear that there’s room for improvement. A human driver would’ve had the wherewithal to move the vehicle enough to remove that weight as quickly as possible. For now, the woman is in critical condition as police try to find the driver who initially hit her.
SFPD’s Traffic Division is continuing the investigation and asking for help from those who might have more information. It can be reached at 415-575-4444 or through text to TIP411.