Settlement between General Motors and the womanwho was injured in a road accident involving an autonomous vehicle GM taxis Cruise, was concluded at the beginning of this year. The injured woman has already left the hospital, Bloomberg learned from a person who declined to be identified, citing the private nature of the case.
The circumstances of the event
In an October incident, a pedestrian crossing the street was struck by another vehicle and then landed in front of a Cruise taxi.
The autonomous taxi braked suddenly, but the vehicle still hit the injured person. The robotaxi then tried to stop as a safety maneuver, but it did not stop immediately. The vehicle continued for 20 feet (just over 6 m) at speeds of up to 7 miles per hour (about 11 km/h). During this long “braking” maneuver, the injured woman was still under the car.
After the accident, license suspension and employee dismissal
After this accident, Cruise grounded the entire US fleet due to its license suspension state of California. Former CEO Kyle Vogt resigned, nine members of the management staff were dismissed. About a quarter of workers also lost their jobs.
Despite the failure GM does not give up on autonomous taxis. Last month, Cruise said he was preparing to resume testing his robotaxis in Phoenix, an important step in efforts to restart services. However, this time the tests will be conducted with the participation of the so-called safety drivers.