California DMV revokes Cruise’s driverless permits effectively immediately

SAN FRANCISCO - Citing safety concerns, the California Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday suspended Cruise's driverless cars in San Francisco, effectively immediately.

"Public safety remains the California DMV’s top priority," the DMV said in a statement, adding that it is in its purview to suspend or revoke permits when there is an "unreasonable risk to public safety." 

The DMV said they believe Cruise's cars are not safe for public operation and said the manufacturer misrepresented information related to the safety of its technology. Federal regulators had recently launched an investigation into Cruise because of possible deficiencies when it comes to pedestrian safety.

In a lengthy statement, Cruise said they learned of the news about 30 minutes before the DMV issued its suspension. Cruise acknowledged the company would "be pausing operations." 

But Cruise disputed that their cars don't operate safely. 

"Ultimately, we develop and deploy autonomous vehicles in an effort to save lives," the company said.

Although the DMV did not cite any specific instances of threats to public safety, Cruise pointed to a specific example that the company said is being reviewed by state regulators.

That was the Oct. 2 hit-and-run of a woman in San Francisco at 5th and Market streets. The woman had been walking across the street and was struck first by a car driven by a person, and then struck secondarily by a Cruise car, the company had stated earlier.

The Cruise car "braked aggressively before impact and because it detected a collision, it attempted to pull over to avoid further safety issues," Cruise reiterated in its statement.

When the Cruise car tried to pull over, it ended up pulling the woman a bit forward, Cruise acknowledged.

When first responders arrived, they found the woman pinned underneath the self-driving car.

Investigators saw no other vehicles around and there was no one inside the self-driving car, when the crash happened.

Shortly after that happened, Cruise said their team shared that information with the DMV, California Public Utilities Commission and the federal NHTSA, including the full video. 

Cruise also shared that video with KTVU for viewing purposes only. 

The DMV said it has provided Cruise with the steps needed to apply to reinstate its suspended permits, which the DMV will not approve until the company has fulfilled the requirements to the department’s satisfaction. This decision does not impact the company’s permit for testing with a safety driver.

Cruise and Waymo both got regulatory approval in August to commercially operate their robotaxis in San Francisco. 

The DMV ordered Cruise to cut its fleet in half a week after its approved expansion as it investigated several recent crashes involving Cruise robotaxis.

The DMV statement did not say anything about the other autonomous car company, Waymo.