Cruise restarts tests for driverless cars in Bay Area nearly a year after San Francisco accident
Nearly a year after one of its autonomous vehicles struck and dragged a pedestrian in downtown San Francisco, General Motors' Cruise is gearing up for a return to the Bay Area.
The company announced on Thursday its plans to deploy a limited number of manually driven mapping vehicles in Sunnyvale and Mountain View for research and development, with an aim to introduce five driverless cars in the region later this fall.
"Resuming testing in the Bay Area is an important step forward as we continue to work closely with California regulators and local stakeholders," Cruise said in a social media post.
"Mountain View is home to many forward-thinking companies that are making our lives better through technology," Showalter said. "Our city serves as a key location for the research and development of autonomous vehicles."
Thursday's announcement arrived nearly a year after California regulators indefinitely suspended Cruise's driverless operations following the Oct. 2, 2024, incident, when a human hit-and-run driver struck a jaywalking pedestrian , propelling her into the path of one of Cruise's robotaxis, which then attempted to pull over with the victim trapped underneath.
Last month, the company revealed a plan to collaborate with Uber to incorporate its robotaxis into the ride-hailing platform, although specific details of this partnership remain undisclosed.
Cruise remains barred from offering paid driverless rides in California. The timeline for its return to San Francisco remains uncertain, despite having previously received authorization from state regulators to operate commercially without restrictions.
The October 2024 incident occurred just weeks into Cruise's paid driverless operations in San Francisco. Both the California Public Utilities Commission and the Department of Motor Vehicles accused the company of not disclosing that its robotaxi dragged the pedestrian for about 20 feet after the collision, allegations Cruise has consistently denied.
Roughly 20% of Cruise's workforce was later laid off, and the company faced a $112,500 fine from the CPUC. According to the DMV, Cruise has begun, but not yet completed, the process for reinstating the necessary driverless deployment permit to charge for rides.
The setback has severely impacted Cruise's ambitious robotaxi deployment plans and led to the resignation of its founder and CEO Kyle Vogt, as well as several other executives.
"While the purpose of this small-scale presence is specifically to allow employees to engage with our product for research and development purposes, we look forward to taking this step as we continue our conversations" with local officials, a Cruise spokesperson said in a statement.
