GM’s Cruise recalls 950 autonomous cars after accident involving pedestrian

Cruise, the autonomous driving unit of General Motors, said on Wednesday it is recalling 950 driverless cars in the United States following an accident involving one of its “robotaxis”, and will likely carry out more recalls.

The cars are being recalled because the collision detection subsystem of Cruise Automated Driving Systems (ADS) software may respond inappropriately after a crash, according to a notice filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, in the English acronym).

Last month, a pedestrian in San Francisco was struck and thrown into an adjacent lane by a hit-and-run driver, only to be struck a second time by a Cruise “robotaxi” that failed to stop in time and dragged the pedestrian.

The recall addresses circumstances in which the collision detection subsystem may cause the Cruise AV to attempt to move out of traffic instead of remaining stopped, according to Cruise.

Cruise said last month it would halt operations nationwide after California regulators suspended the company’s license, saying autonomous vehicles pose a risk to the public. On Monday, the company said it plans to temporarily suspend production of its fully autonomous Cruise Origin.