SAN FRANCISCO, Cal. (AP) — General Motors’ autonomous-vehicle unit Cruise has agreed to cut its fleet of driverless taxis in half in San Francisco as authorities investigate two recent crashes in the city.
The state department of motor vehicles (DMV) requested the reduction after a Cruise without a human driver collided with an emergency vehicle on Thursday.
“DMV is investigating recent incidents involving Cruise vehicles in San Francisco,” the agency said in a statement sent to the Associated Press. “Cruise has agreed to a 50% daytime reduction and 150 driverless vehicles operating overnight.”
A little over a week ago, regulators in California authorized Cruise and Waymo, a Google subsidiary, to operate autonomous taxis in San Francisco around the clock despite fears sparked by recurring problems such as sudden stops and erratic movements.
San Francisco is the first major US city to allow two fleets of autonomous vehicles to compete for passengers.
On Thursday around 10 p.m., the Cruise vehicle, with a green light, crossed an intersection and was struck by an emergency vehicle responding to a call, the San Francisco Chronicle reported based on tweets from Cruise.
The taxi was carrying a passenger who had to be taken by ambulance to a hospital with minor injuries, Cruise told the newspaper.
That same night, a Cruise ship traveling without a passenger collided with another vehicle in San Francisco, the newspaper reported.
The city’s Fire Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the newspaper.
