GM this week recalled all 80 autonomous test vehicles from its Cruise division to perform a software update following an accident involving one of its self-driving test benches in June. The Cruise vehicle was traveling in driverless mode and was attempting to make a legal, unprotected left turn when a speeding vehicle traveling in the opposite direction bypassed traffic by using a right-turn-only lane and the Cruise vehicle hit the intersection. The occupants of both vehicles were treated for minor injuries.
The police report found, among other things, that the ‘highest culpability of the party’ for the collision was the other vehicle, which was ‘driving in the … the safety of others in the roadway,” according to GM’s recall documentation. “However, in an abundance of caution and in accordance with its safety practices and policies, Cruise has implemented certain restrictive measures, including disabling unprotected left turns from the fleet and reducing the ODD to a smaller geofence. Since the release of the new software update in July On December 6, 2022, Cruise has gradually reintroduced UPLs to its fleet.”
“During the investigation, Cruise met with the NHTSA several times, providing updates and analysis of the subject’s crash and ADS behavior, as well as explanations of next steps and mitigation measures, as noted above,” he continued. the. Cruise presented information to NHTSA that, during the incident, Cruise AV’s reflexive planner function recognized a front-end collision risk created by a speeding vehicle, which reasonably indicated it was going to turn right because it was in the right-hand lane. Cruise AV stopped to avoid the collision risk and create a path for the other vehicle. The Cruise AV had to choose between two different risk scenarios and choose the scenario with the least chance of a serious collision.”
GM has since re-enabled the unprotected left turn functionality and should be better prepared with the new software update to deal with unexpected (and in this case illegal) driving behavior in similar scenarios. All of Cruise’s 80 autonomous test vehicles are owned or leased by GM and its Cruise unit, so there are no customer vehicles to deal with.
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