The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announced Friday that the state auto regulator has opened an investigation into “recent concerning incidents” surrounding General Motors' (NYSE:GM) Cruise autonomous vehicle unit. The DMV has also asked that GM remove half of their robotaxis from service while the investigation is underway.
The statement from the California DMV follows an incident involving a Cruise robotaxi and an emergency vehicle in San Francisco late on Thursday, the latest accident involving the self-driving cars.
"The DMV reserves the right, following investigation of the facts, to suspend or revoke testing and/or deployment permits" if it is determined to be an unreasonable risk to public safety, the regulator said in a statement.
According to a statement by Cruise, one of its taxis "entered the intersection on a green light and was struck by an emergency vehicle that appeared to be en route to an emergency scene" after 22:00 ET (02:00 GMT) on Thursday.
The car "did identify the risk of a collision and initiated a braking maneuver, reducing its speed, but was ultimately unable to avoid the collision," the company added Friday.
According to a statement by the San Francisco Police Department, the collision took place while a fire truck was in emergency operation mode, utilizing its front-facing red lights and siren. The police also noted that the only occupant of the self-driving vehicle involved was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of injuries that were determined to be non-life-threatening.
Despite facing resistance from residents and city entities, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) recently granted permission for Cruise and Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Waymo to run robotaxis in San Francisco around the clock and to impose fares on passengers. Previously, the companies had conducted robotaxi trials that were confined by specific timeframes and geographical zones within the city.
City Attorney David Chiu has urged the CPUC to pause its decision as the city intends to seek a re-hearing.
"We have seen that this technology is not yet ready, and poor AV performance has interfered with the life-saving operations of first responders. San Francisco will suffer serious harms from this unfettered expansion," said David Chiu.
Shares of GM are up 0.18% in mid-day trading Monday.