Driverless taxis from Cruise have been prowling the streets of San Francisco for years, with what we may name combined outcomes. They’re recognized for stopping in site visitors and interrupting commutes, however hardly ever do issues worsen than that.
Last night time, a automobile in San Francisco hit a lady as she crossed the road. An adjoining Cruise robotaxi then parked on the lady’s leg, trapping her in place till emergency crews might forcibly take away the automobile. The San Francisco Chronicle spoke with eyewitnesses and first responders, and compiled a timeline of the incident:
The horrific crash occurred at 9:35 p.m. at Market and Fifth streets after the site visitors gentle turned inexperienced, giving the Cruise automobile and different automobile — which had been ready side-by-side for the sunshine — the best to enter the intersection the place a lady was strolling, in response to video of the crash proven to The Chronicle by Cruise hours after the incident.
The different automobile struck the lady and she or he rolled off its aspect and into the trail of the driverless taxi, which was carrying no passengers, and ran her over, stopping and pinning her to the bottom with its rear axle and tire over a leg, in response to video and a photograph of the lady below the automobile taken by a witness that was supplied to The Chronicle. Police stated the driving force who first struck the pedestrian fled the scene and that authorities have been on the lookout for the automobile and driver.
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San Francisco firefighters arrived and used the jaws of life to carry the automobile off the lady. She was transported to San Francisco General Hospital with “multiple traumatic injuries,” stated SFFD Capt. Justin Schorr.
It seems that when the Cruise automobile sensed one thing beneath its rear axle, it got here to a halt and turned on its hazard lights, Schorr stated. Firefighters obstructed the sensors of the driverless automobile to alert the Cruise management heart. He stated representatives from Cruise responded to firefighters and “immediately disabled the car remotely.”
Perhaps Cruise wants a brand new emergency response, one thing extra detailed than “stop in place immediately.” When a automobile stops in site visitors, no less than, it’s irritating however protected — a shifting automobile can’t hit anybody else. But when a automobile stops on high of a human being, not budging till pried off by firefighters, there’s really an issue with its listing of evasive maneuvers.
Source: jalopnik.com