Cruise Robot Safety Back on the road with the driver

Monday's cruise announced that robotaxis will return to the road for the first time since May 10 last year, when the fleet was parked after an accident with pedestrians in San Francisco.

The reboot will take place in Phoenix, initially only 2 robotaxis will work, and in each case the safe driver will be behind the wheel. Cruise will begin service in Phoenix in 2023, and the company announced on Monday that robotaxis will eventually be deployed to other parts of Arizona, including Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert and Chandler.

The company has not said when it will resume operations in San Francisco, the first city where the robotaxi service was launched. The city is also the location of Cruise's headquarters.

Cruise has been under extra scrutiny since the accident, a female pedestrian was thrown into the path of one of its robotaxis after she was hit by another vehicle in an adjacent lane and the driver of the other non-cruise vehicle fled the scene.

Cruise's robotaxi brake hard to avoid impact, but still made contact with pedestrians. Following the initial stop, robotaxi tried to pull another 20 feet, but the cruise said it was done to avoid further traffic safety issues. But as a result of maneuvers, robotaxi dragged pedestrians.

The California DMV responded by drawing a permit that allowed Cruise's robotaxis to operate without a safe driver. The cruise is followed by the discontinuation of its robotaxis operations across the country. The company's co-founders Kyle Vogt and Daniel Kan, who served as CEO and Chief Product Officer respectively, resigned the following month.

General Motors is the biggest backer of autonomous driving technology startups, and the automaker that supplies cars for Cruz's robotaxi fleet says it continues to commit to the venture. Since the start of 2020, GM Alone has invested nearly660 billion in Cruise. Honda, Microsoft and Walmart are also investing in Cruise.