Driverless taxis from Cruise have been prowling the streets of San Francisco for years, with what we might call mixed results. They’re known for stopping in traffic and interrupting commutes, but rarely do things get worse than that.
Last night, a car in San Francisco hit a woman as she crossed the street. An adjacent Cruise robotaxi then parked on the woman’s leg, trapping her in place until emergency crews could forcibly remove the car. 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 traffic light turned green, giving the Cruise car and other car — which had been waiting side-by-side for the light — the right to enter the intersection where a woman was walking, according to video of the crash shown to The Chronicle by Cruise hours after the incident.
The other car struck the woman and she rolled off its side and into the path of the driverless taxi, which was carrying no passengers, and ran her over, stopping and pinning her to the ground with its rear axle and tire over a leg, according to video and a photo of the woman under the car taken by a witness that was provided to The Chronicle. Police said the driver who first struck the pedestrian fled the scene and that authorities were looking for the car and driver.
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San Francisco firefighters arrived and used the jaws of life to lift the car off the woman. She was transported to San Francisco General Hospital with “multiple traumatic injuries,” said SFFD Capt. Justin Schorr.
It appears that once the Cruise car sensed something underneath its rear axle, it came to a halt and turned on its hazard lights, Schorr said. Firefighters obstructed the sensors of the driverless car to alert the Cruise control center. He said representatives from Cruise responded to firefighters and “immediately disabled the car remotely.”
Perhaps Cruise needs a new emergency response, something more detailed than “stop in place immediately.” When a car stops in traffic, at least, it’s frustrating but safe — a moving car can’t hit anyone else. But when a car stops on top of a human being, not budging until pried off by firefighters, there’s truly a problem with its list of evasive maneuvers.