California DMV suspends permits for Cruise's driverless taxis

The California Department of Motor Vehicles suspended permits and vehicle deployments for self-driving taxis produced by the company Cruise.

"When there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the DMV can immediately suspend or revoke permits. There is no set time for a suspension," the DMV said Tuesday.

The robotaxi company will need to fulfill several DMV requirements to reinstate its suspended permits, officials said. 

The DMV gave multiple reasons behind the suspensions, including being unsafe for public operation and misrepresenting safety information.  

The suspension came the same day Cruise concluded its review of an accident earlier this month in which its taxi ran over a pedestrian after a driver hit her and threw her in front of the driverless car. The autonomous vehicle ran her over and dragged her underneath for about 20 feet.

Cruise said an after-accident simulation "showed that had it been a Cruise AV rather than the human driver, the AV would have detected and avoided the pedestrian, and the pedestrian could have continued on their way. We wish this has been the case [sic]. We also found that in the real-world scenario, the AV responded to the individual deflected in its path within 460 milliseconds, faster than most human drivers, and braked aggressively to minimize the impact."

Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, had plans earlier this summer to expand operations from Phoenix, San Francisco and Austin to test its taxis in 14 cities. It is unclear whether the plans are still in effect. 

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