Self-driving Cruise vehicle accused of nearly hitting kids in two separate close calls one day apart
Cruise, the driverless car company owned by General Motors, is back in the spotlight after another close call with a pedestrian.
Cruise, the driverless car company owned by General Motors, is back in the spotlight after another close call with a pedestrian.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles is investigating allegations that a self-driving vehicle operated by Cruise nearly hit a 7-year-old boy after it failed to yield to him and his family while they crossed the street in San Francisco last year, according to DMV records obtained by NBC News.
The family says the driverless Cruise car headed straight toward them as they crossed the street.
The car “was fully stopped, and then it started when he had gotten maybe a third of the way or halfway across the intersection,” said Sascha Retailleau, who was crossing 20th Street near the intersection of York Street with his wife and son in their Mission District neighborhood on the evening of Aug. 14. “It started to accelerate towards us like we weren’t there.”
Retailleau said the car swerved as it approached, right toward his young son, Luke, who said he had to rush ahead to avoid being hit. Retailleau reported the incident to the DMV, which told NBC News it couldn’t disclose any details of its ongoing investigation.
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