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Cruise software recall on driverless cars
This month, the self-driving car company Cruise issued a voluntary recall of the software used by its autonomous fleet. This comes after the company paused operations in Austin and nationwide.
AUSTIN, Texas - Cruise suspended operations on close to 900 of its self-driving vehicles across the country, and more than 100 locally.
"I feel safer, the fact that they are actively going through some sort of refresh," said Austin resident Ted Mackey.
In the latest update posted to the company's website, Cruise paused all operations on its driverless vehicles and issued a voluntary software recall following a hit-and-run collision on October 2 to examine and better understand the vehicles' response to the incident.
"I think it is long overdue," Mackey said. "I think the technology is ahead of its time, but also, I feel safer around cars with drivers. I have seen instances where those cars stop in the middle of the road or up and down my street without much police or oversight whatsoever."
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Cruise suspends driverless cars in Texas
Cruise has officially hit the brakes on its driverless cars on Austin roadways, and across the country, after being in service for less than two years locally. Residents weigh in about the suspension.
According to the company, the recall addresses circumstances in which the Cruise collision detection subsystem may cause the vehicle to attempt to pull over out of traffic instead of remaining stationary when a pullover is not the desired post-collision response.
Local residents say they have witnessed a number of occasions when the vehicles have blocked traffic while pulled over.
"If there is a situation where they are uncertain, then they just kind of stop, err on the side of safety, which is probably a good thing," Austin resident Drew Shaffer said.
"I have actually been behind one that had been stopped at a red light for an extended period of time," Mackey said. "The light turned green, the car did not move, turned red, turned green again. The car did not move, so I had to move around it to take a right-hand turn."
RELATED: Cruise suspends driverless vehicle operations in Texas
Cruise has announced plans to hire a Chief Safety Officer and a Chief Administrative Officer to identify improvements to how the company operates.
"The more safety, the better, especially with cars without drivers," Mackey said. "Definitely in favor of an oversight position as well."