The company left out some key details regarding the incident involving one of its robotaxis and a pedestrian.
On October 2, 2023, a woman was run over and pinned to the ground by a Cruise robotaxi. Given the recent string of very public malfunctions the robotaxis have been experiencing in San Francisco, it was only a matter of time until a pedestrian was hurt by the self-driving cars. New reports, though, suggest that Cruise held back one of the most horrifying pieces of information: that the woman was dragged 20 feet by the robotaxi after being pushed into its path.
The LA Times reports:
A car with a human behind the wheel hit a woman who was crossing the street against a red light at the intersection of 5th and Market Streets. The pedestrian slid over the hood and into the path of a Cruise robotaxi, with no human driver. She was pinned under the car, and was taken to a hospital.
But this is what Cruise left out:
What Cruise did not say, and what the DMV revealed Tuesday, is that after sitting still for an unspecified period of time, the robotaxi began moving forward at about 7 mph, dragging the woman with it for 20 feet.
read more: https://jalopnik.com/woman-hit-by-cruise-robotaxi-was-dragged-20-feet-1850963884
archive link: https://archive.ph/8ENHu
These cars should be monitored by human beings until their AI evolves enough to be actually more secure than human professional by-the-law pilots. If a human was monitoring the car, they probably could have stopped it immediately, or even hold it before it starts dragging that poor woman.
Only if these cars can do the same or better than the human overseeing their activity, these cars will be safe enough to be offering a public service. Also, as shameful as it could be, this incident must get the most publicity because other competitors should test their AI against this specific situation as soon as possible.
I mean, humans are perfectly capable of not knowing someone is trapped under the car and doing something like this. It’s awful, but it happens pretty regularly. Pulling over to the side after an accident is a pretty heavily ingrained thing.
In this case, it’s not the technology that scares me, but the company developing it not being honest.
The car could have a safety record vastly better than any human, but if the company making it isn’t transparent about incidents it entirely undermines our ability to trust that safety record.