Auto-nomous: But shouldn’t we be in charge?
Mint explains: Up until early August, only Cruise autonomous cars with a “safety driver" (human) could charge cab fares for rides in California at night. Cruise driverless cars could take passengers without humans but not charge any fare. Alphabet-owned Waymo, another fully autonomous car, couldn’t charge without a human driver either.
On 14 August, California regulators allowed both to offer 24-hour robotaxi services in San Francisco without restrictions. But earlier this month, a Cruise driverless car dragged a pedestrian, who was hit by another human-driven vehicle, for nearly 20 feet before coming to a halt. Founded a decade ago by Kyle Vogt, Cruise’s driverless cars operate in San Francisco, Austin, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, and Miami.
In December 2022, too, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it had received complaints about malfunctions around “inappropriately hard braking" or becoming “immobilized while operating". This time around, two California agencies suspended Cruise’s licence to test and operate driverless vehicles. Cruise has halted its driverless operations in the US and says it is “taking steps to rebuild public trust".
NHTSA is examining the issue. Many self-driving cars are “partially self-driving", without the Level 5 automation that implies full automation in all conditions as defined by SAE International that develops global standards for the mobility industry. Driverless cars already ply across the US, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Sweden, China, the UK and Germany.
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