This incident has raised concerns about the safety of autonomous vehicles. The police have not yet assigned blame for the crash and no charges have been filed. Cruise, owned by General Motors, and Google’s Waymo are the two companies currently operating self-driving cars in San Francisco. Both companies have reported numerous crashes to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Despite these incidents, Cruise has defended its safety record and continues to test its vehicles in the city.
Key takeaways:
- A woman is in critical condition after a hit-and-run accident pushed her into the path of a self-driving car in San Francisco, trapping her underneath. This is the first serious injury involving one of the city’s autonomous cars.
- The victim was hit by a human-driven car which fled the scene, throwing her into the path of a vehicle owned by Cruise, one of two self-driving car companies currently operating in San Francisco.
- Police have yet to place blame in the crash and no charges have been filed. This is the first serious injury they've seen involving an autonomous car. Cruise and Google’s Waymo each operate fleets of robotaxis in San Francisco.
- There have been 150 crashes reported by Waymo and 78 by Cruise to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration between July 2021 and July 2023. Despite this, Cruise has defended its safety record numerous times.