Cruise resumes AZ self-driving tests with a driver after safety issue in CA
About a month after returning to Phoenix streets with a human driving its cars, autonomous vehicle operator Cruise has returned to autonomous operations, with a safety driver present but not controlling the car.
Cruise will start autonomous operations in Phoenix and gradually expand to Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Mesa, Gilbert and Chandler, the company announced Monday. During this phase, the only person in the vehicle will be the safety driver. The cars will not be transporting passengers.
The safety driver will not operate the car but will monitor driving and take over if needed.
Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, returned to Phoenix in April after halting operations in October 2023. For the past four weeks, Cruise’s vehicles have been operating without autonomous systems engaged to create maps and gather data about the roadways, company officials said when announcing the return to the Valley.
A company spokesperson said the return to autonomous operations with a safety driver is the next step to the eventual goal of resuming fully autonomous driving. The company did not provide a timeline of when they might reach that goal.
Cruise halted operations in Arizona in October 2023 after its permit to operate without a driver in California was suspended, after the California Department of Motor Vehicles determined “manufacturer’s vehicles are not safe for the public’s operation.” The department also found Cruise had misrepresented information related to safety.
At the time, Cruise had been operating fully autonomous driving in Arizona with a select group of users who had signed up to participate in the testing program.
California’s suspension of the self-driving permit still would have allowed Cruise to operate with a safety driver, but Cruise halted all operations following the suspension.
An autonomous vehicle relying on a safety driver was involved in a fatal collision in Arizona in 2018. An Uber vehicle operating autonomously, with a safety driver behind the wheel, hit and killed a person who was jaywalking in Tempe. The safety driver did not take over and was charged in the crash. She pleaded guilty in 2023 to one count of endangerment and was sentenced to three years of probation.
Reach the reporter at cvanek@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter @CorinaVanek.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cruise resumes autonomous driving in Arizona, with a safety operator
