Cruise shares a remark after a robotaxi crashed right into a San Francisco Muni bus

A cruise robotic taxi working with out a security driver lately collided with a San Francisco Municipal Transportation Company (Muni) bus. There have been no reported accidents. Whereas the bus sustained minor injury, injury to the cruise automobile’s entrance bumper was extra extreme.

On the time of the incident, the cruise robotaxi was not carrying any passengers. GM’s self-driving unit issued a quick assertion on the incident: “Yesterday one in every of our autos struck the rear of a Muni bus. No accidents had been reported and there have been no passengers current on the Cruise AV. We’re investigating the incident and can take follow-up motion if essential.”

Based mostly on Cruise’s remark and a photograph of the incident, it seems that the robotaxi overtook the bus at a comparatively gradual pace. A picture of the accident shared on social media exhibits that the robotaxi remains to be in touch with the bus. The impression additionally occurred simply previous a bus cease, additional suggesting that the collision seemingly occurred at low speeds, as in a forbes Report. The cruise automobile’s airbags additionally didn’t seem to have deployed, as proven within the picture.

This incident underscores the necessity for Cruise to additional optimize its San Francisco robotaxi fleet for real-world use. One might conclude that the robo-taxis’ sensors would have detected the Muni-Bus and will subsequently have stopped earlier than the collision.

In a current separate incident, a cruise robotic taxi encountered fallen trolley wires throughout a storm. The automobile drove by way of “warning” cordon tape blocking a street and struck lifeless wires. Whereas twisted warning tape could be tough for sensors like LIDAR and radar techniques to detect, overhead wires are thicker and certain way more seen.

Though current storms in San Francisco have introduced challenges, it’s protected to imagine that Cruise simulated such situations through the coaching and testing processes of its robotic taxis. The Muni-Bus and trolley wire incidents underscore the significance of area testing and edge-case coaching for robo-taxis to make sure their protected operation. That is one thing different firms additionally pursuing robotaxi expertise — like Waymo and Tesla — ought to actually emphasize.

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