Nearly a year after the horrific accident in which one of its driverless vehicles struck a woman and dragged her 20 feet, Cruise is now planning its return to the Bay Area. The company said in a post on X that it is deploying “multiple” manually controlled mapping vehicles in Sunnyvale and Mountain View, with the goal of moving to “supervised testing” with five autonomous vehicles this fall.
“Resuming testing in the Bay Area is an important step forward as we continue to work closely with California regulators and local stakeholders,” the post said. “This will allow our local employees to engage directly with our product as they refine and improve our technology through research and development.”
Driverless Cruise vehicles were once a common sight on the streets of San Francisco, but they all disappeared after the incident on October 2 last year in which a fleeing driver struck a woman, sending her flying into the path of one of the company's robotaxis. The Cruise vehicle also collided with the woman but did not stop until emergency responders arrived, instead pulling over to the side of the road with the victim trapped underneath.
Immediately afterward, the California Department of Transportation accused Cruise of withholding important information, including the fact that the vehicle was responsible for towing the victim, and revoked its permit to carry passengers.
Cruise grounded its fleet nationwide and began the lengthy process of addressing its mistakes, which included a complete restructuring of its leadership team, including the firing of CEO Kyle Vogt. About 20 percent of the company's employees were laid off, and Cruise was later ordered to pay $112,500 to the California Public Utilities Commission.
Since then, Cruise has resumed testing in several cities, including Phoenix, Houston and Dallas. Plans for a purpose-built autonomous shuttle called Origin have also been abandoned. GM, Cruise's parent company, has recommitted itself to the project, investing $850 million in Cruise.
By returning to the city where the incident occurred, Cruise is taking a big risk. But if the company wants to compete with its main rival, Waymo, it will need to get back to operating in its own home market, where the stakes are high for both companies.