Cruise is recalling 950 of its autonomous vehicles across the United States to fix a software issue that prompted one of its vehicles to hit and drag a pedestrian along a road in San Francisco on October 2.
The incident in question occurred near 5th and Market Streets where one of the Cruise’s Chevrolet Bolt-based robotaxis hit a pedestrian. After the impact, the car attempted a “pullover maneuver” but failed to recognize the pedestrian was trapped underneath and dragged them for approximately 20 feet. The California Department of Motor Vehicles quickly revoked Cruise’s testing permits after the crash.
Read: Cruise Autonomous Car Runs Over Pedestrian That Had Just Been Hit By Another Driver
The firm’s recall notice says that the automated driving systems (ADS) system of its autonomous vehicles is responsible for determining the correct response to a collision and in many cases, it will pull over and away from traffic. In other cases, it will stop and remain stationary. Cruise says the system made an error in the San Francisco crash when it categorized hitting the pedestrian as a lateral collision and commanded it to pull over. In the process of doing so, it pulled the pedestrian forward.
A software update is promising to remedy the issue and Cruise notes that the fix has already been added to its fleet of supervised prototypes that remain in operation.
Cruise suspended all operations of its driverless fleet in late October. It has not yet said when this fleet will resume testing but says the affected vehicles will receive the software update before they return to the roads.
The company’s chief executive, Kyle Vogt, recently confirmed that Cruise has also paused production of the Origin with General Motors. He says this halt in production is only temporary, presumably as the firms iron out some kinks before getting back on track.
