Feds To Investigate Autonomous Car Crashes

“The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating four incidents involving autonomous Cruise vehicles and pedestrians in San Francisco,” writes Dan Zukowski in Smart Cities Dive.

The ‘preliminary’ evaluation comes on the heels of two reports of pedestrian injuries and two other incidents posted online. “In the most recent incident on Oct. 2 in San Francisco, a woman was struck by a hit-and-run driver and thrown into the path of a driverless Cruise vehicle unable to stop in time to avoid hitting her. She suffered traumatic injuries after being pinned under the Cruise vehicle, a Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle, according to news reports.” Another Cruise vehicle hit a pedestrian at low speed in a crosswalk.

Since Cruise first deployed its fleet of driverless cars in San Francisco, city officials have asked the state to slow its rollout, citing multiple incidents of autonomous cars blocking traffic, impeding public transit, and driving into emergency response areas.