Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina, told Reuters that this decision could have a detrimental effect on the autonomous driving industry. “This could be a big blow to Cruise,” he said. “This plays into the narrative about the technology and the companies failing. The whole industry will suffer as a result.”
Now that Cruise is no longer able to operate driverless cars in San Francisco (without a safety driver), the company is still working in Austin, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizona. Neither state has released a report claiming that Cruise’s self-driving service would be suspended.
The idea of autonomous vehicles is somewhat contentious, as many believe we are not ready for self-driving cars on our roads. The evidence is certainly stacking up, and more work needs to be done before it can be considered safe and effective. Hopefully, Cruise can come out of this positively.
