Thanks to hard braking and vehicles becoming unexpected roadway obstacles.

@xguntherc

Dec 16, 2022, 10:45 am EST
| 1 min read

After years of working on its self-driving Robotaxi fleet of vehicles, GM’s Cruise hit the streets of California earlier this year. However, things aren’t going well, and after a recall in September, we’re now hearing the NHTSA is investigating the service over safety concerns.

It’s worth noting that any new technology, especially one as advanced as self-driving taxi vehicles, is bound to hit a few speed bumps along the way. That said, GM’s Cruise service continues to hit setbacks.

In the last eight months, dozens of Cruise vehicles bunch together and completely stopped on roadways, causing big traffic jams. And in July, one was involved in a car crash that resulted in injuries. This spawned an investigation by California regulators, and later, GM updated the software on all its vehicles. However, it sounds like that was too little too late, as now the NHTSA is involved.

US regulators at the NHTSA are reportedly investigating the service for safety reasons. More specifically, due to countless reports that vehicles are stopping in the middle of the road, excessive and hard braking for no reason, and other situations that result in blocked traffic and other safety concerns.

Situations like vehicles becoming immobilized and stranding passengers are entirely separate from the erratic and “inappropriate” driving behavior, but both cause unexpected roadway obstacles. It’s those obstacles in the road that has regulators concerned. We’ll have to wait and see what comes of the investigation.

As a reminder, these autonomous taxi vehicles can’t drive freely in the city. They’re limited to very select streets at slow speeds, can only drive at night, and only during optimal weather conditions. That said, GM recently expanded to two new cities, with more markets coming in 2023.

via AutoBlog