HOUSTON – The self-driving car and driverless rides company Cruise said Thursday that it is halting its driverless operations across its fleets -- including in Houston -- as it said on Twitter that it is taking steps to “rebuild public trust,” though it added that the decision “isn’t related to any new on-road incident.”
The San Francisco-based company reportedly launched in Houston and Austin in recent months and is now under federal investigation for risky behaviors near pedestrians.
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CNBC reported Cruise, the autonomous vehicle startup owned by General Motors, has paused all of its driverless operations after collisions led to investigations, a disagreement with state regulators, and a suspension of its licenses in California earlier this week.
“Part of this involves taking a hard look inwards and at how we do work at Cruise, even if it means doing things that are uncomfortable or difficult,” messages on X, formerly known as Twitter read, in part. “In that spirit, we have decided to proactively pause driverless operations across all of our fleets while we take time to examine our processes, systems, and tools and reflect on how we can better operate in a way that will earn public trust. ...This isn’t related to any new on-road incidents, and supervised AV operations will continue. We think it’s the right thing to do during a period when we need to be extra vigilant when it comes to risk, relentlessly focused on safety, & taking steps to rebuild public trust.”
The autonomous vehicle company was founded by CEO Kyle Vogt in 2013. In addition to Houston, it had previously initiated driverless operations in San Francisco, Austin, Phoenix, Dallas and Miami.