Cali DMV Forces Cruise To Cut Robotaxi Fleet In Half After Several "Concerning Incidents"

Just days after we wrote about a massive traffic jam in downtown San Francisco that was the fault of a new wave of driverless Cruise robotaxis, the California DMV has ordered the size of the newly expanded fleet of vehicles to be cut in half.

The new restriction was hastily put into place after a Cruise robotaxi collided with a firetruck late last Thursday in San Francisco. 

The California DMV also said it is investigating recent “concerning incidents” surrounding the vehicles, with the agency ruling that it can have no more than 50 driverless taxis operating during the day and 150 at night, pending the outcome of the investigation. 

In a statement Friday the DMV said the restrictions won't be lifted until the company takes “appropriate corrective actions to improve road safety.”

Cruise wrote on the platform formerly known as Twitter last week: “One of our cars entered the intersection on a green light and was struck by an emergency vehicle that appeared to be en route to an emergency scene.”

“Our car contained one passenger who was treated on scene and transported via ambulance for what we believe are non-severe injuries,” they continued. 

At the time, despite the green light, the firetruck's lights and a forward facing red light were activated, the report says. ABC had video of the accident. 

Recall, we wrote days ago that one day after the state implemented a massive expansion of the robotaxis, it was faced with a 10-car driverless traffic jam in San Francisco. 

The 10 taxies "blocked two narrow streets in the center of the city’s lively North Beach bar and restaurant district", according to a report from Yahoo Finance, which said the robotaxis "might as well have been boulders" because nobody knew how to move them. 

The jam clogged up Vallejo Street and two corners on Grant, as human drivers were unable to maneuver around the automated vehicles, the report says. The robotaxis sat with their parking lights flashing for 15 minutes before "waking up" and eventually moving on. 

"Our houses in North Beach are made of sticks," said Aaron Peskin, who represents North Beach on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He tried to allay his fears that robotaxis could jam the streets close in the event of a major emergency or fire where people needed to evacuate an area. 

The California Public Utilities Commission less than two weeks ago voted 3 to 1 to allow the robotaxi expansion. The vote didn't come without controversy, however, as the report noted there was significant pushback on the idea from the mayor's office, which claimed that Cruise has a laundry list of fixes it must implement before the taxis are ready for primetime. 

It looks like they were right...