The California DMV is investigating allegations a driverless Cruise vehicle nearly hit a 7-year-old boy after failing to yield to him and his family while they crossed the street in San Francisco last year, according to DMV records obtained by the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit.
Family says driverless Cruise car headed straight towards 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 walking with his wife and son in their Mission District neighborhood when they crossed 20th Street near the intersection of York Street 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 towards his young son Luke, who said he had to rush ahead to avoid being hit. Retailleau later reported the incident to the DMV, which told NBC Bay Area it couldn’t disclose any details from its ongoing investigation.
“If I didn’t run, it would have hit me, probably,” Luke, 7, said. "I felt scared."
If I didn’t run, it would have hit me, probably.
Luke Retailleau, speaking about his encounter with a driverless Cruise car
A different close call in the crosswalk
The alleged incident came just one day after an eerily similar near-miss was caught on camera in the city’s Pacific Heights neighborhood. The video, posted to the website Reddit, shows a Cruise car accelerating straight towards two women and two children walking in a crosswalk. The vehicle then brakes and swerves around them at the last second.
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Cruise acknowledged its vehicle was involved, but declined to comment further, citing an ongoing federal investigation looking into the incident.
As for the similar near miss reported by Retailleau, Cruise said its records show none of its driverless cars traveled through the specific intersection around the time Retailleau and his family were crossing the street.
“We have reviewed data and video in response to this complaint, but to date, we have not identified a Cruise driverless [autonomous vehicle] traveling in the locations on the dates or times provided that encountered any pedestrians,” said Cruise spokesperson Erik Moser. “We are committed to operating with safety and transparency and continue to investigate this incident.”
Retailleau, a mechanical engineer who has built robots himself, says there’s no mistaking what he saw that day: a driverless Cruise car with the company’s signature orange stripe.
We were scared at first and then I was just angry, super angry. My kid could have been hurt or killed by this Cruise vehicle.
Sascha Retailleau
“We were scared at first and then I was just angry, super angry,” Retailleau said. “My kid could have been hurt or killed by this Cruise vehicle.”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is now investigating at least four incidents involving Cruise vehicles and pedestrians, including the one posted on Reddit.
“The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received reports of incidents in which Automated Driving System (ADS) equipped vehicles operated by Cruise LLC (Cruise) may not have exercised appropriate caution around pedestrians in the roadway,” the agency stated in a summary of its investigation.
Cruise facing five separate government probes
The embattled car company is now at the center of at least five separate state and federal investigations looking into the company’s safety record and whether it purposely misled regulators and the public – accusations Cruise denies.
Cruise’s fleet of 400 driverless cars has been grounded since last October. The company suspended operation of its driverless vehicles in San Francisco, Austin, Phoenix, and Houston after California regulators determined the company posed an “unreasonable risk to public safety.”
Cruise hasn’t announced when or where it expects to get its cars back on the road.
Cruise declined NBC Bay Area’s on-camera interview request with the company’s President and Chief Technology Officer Mo Elshenawy. In a written statement, however, the company said, "we are focused on advancing our technology and earning back public trust."
Cruise offers to pay $75,000 in fines in connection with Oct. 2 incident, in which a driverless car dragged a woman 20 feet
On Tuesday, representatives from Cruise are expected to appear before regulators at the California Public Utilities Commission amid accusations Cruise attempted to mislead regulators regarding a now-infamous Oct. 2 accident, where a woman was struck by a hit-and-run driver while attempting to cross a busy street in San Francisco, and then hurled right into the path of a Cruise driverless car. The Cruise vehicle came to a stop after running over the woman, but regulators accuse Cruise of attempting to hide the fact the car then tried to pull over to the curb, dragging the woman trapped beneath the vehicle another 20 feet.
After spending more than 90 days in the hospital, the victim was released last month.
Cruise admits its actions “raised concerns” and, as part of a proposed settlement agreement, recently offered to pay $75,000 in fines and increase the amount of information it publicly discloses regarding future collisions. In previous filings, the CPUC noted Cruise could face more than $1.5 million in fines and requested representatives with the company to appear before the commission on Tuesday to “explain how Cruise determined that the payment of $75,000 is a reasonable sum, and why Cruise should not be required to pay a higher amount.”
Family still waiting on Cruise response five months after filing complaint
Retailleau reached out to Cruise to explain how one of its driverless cars nearly hit his son, but after giving the company all the details it asked for, he said he is still waiting to hear back from Cruise more than five months later.
“There was no apology,” he said. “There was no ‘we'll try to make this right.'”
Cruise admits to the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit it never replied to the family, adding it apologizes for the lack of communication.
“They shouldn’t be allowed to have 2,000 pounds of metal rolling through the streets of San Francisco, potentially endangering other people,” Retailleau said. “Here is a company that is beta testing on the public."
Watch our entire investigative series
- Part 1: Driverless cars seek San Francisco expansion despite worries tech is unsafe
- Part 2: CPUC votes to expand driverless car operations in San Francisco
- Part 3: San Francisco city attorney files motion to pump the brakes on driverless cars
- Part 4: Google's Waymo says insurance data shows its driverless cars are safer than humans
- Part 5: Hit-and-run driver strikes pedestrian, tossing her into path of Cruise car in San Francisco
- Part 6: Driverless trucks and robot deliveries promise fewer traffic jams than robotaxis
- Part 7: Cruise says its robotaxis can now better detect emergency vehicles
- Part 8: California DMV orders Cruise's driverless cars off the road
- Part 9: Driverless cars immune from traffic tickets in California under current laws
- Part 10: GM's Cruise lays off nearly 25% of its workforce
- Part 11: Waymo's driverless cars surpass 7 million miles, but are they safer than human drivers?
- Part 12: Cruise probe blames poor internet, bad leadership, and "flawed" decisions for company's woes
- Part 13: Driverless Cruise car accused of almost hitting 7 yr old after similar close call involving kids
- Part 14: Cruise offers to pay $112,500 in fines to settle claims driverless car company misled regulators
- Part 15: Uber Eats now uses Waymo Self-Driving cars to offer driverless deliveries
- Part 16: Bills aimed at closing traffic ticket loophole for driverless cars get initial green light
- Part 17: School crossing guards say they've had to dodge driverless cars to avoid being hit
- Part 18: Cruise ordered to pay $112,500 in penalties for withholding info from regulators
- Part 19: Waymo waitlist over in SF, all can hail driverless cars
- Part 20: SF Mayor vows to hold driverless car companies accountable after NBC Bay Area report
- Part 21: San Francisco govt. officials meet with Waymo to discuss safety concerns near schools
- Part 22: California DMV gears up to allow driverless trucking despite calls to restrict high-tech big rigs
Contact The Investigative Unit
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Bigad Shaban
Contact The Investigative Unit
submit tips | 1-888-996-TIPS | e-mail Bigad
Follow @BigadShaban on social media
