Will General Motor's Cruise Robotaxis Become Only A Bad Memory?
Does anyone doubt that national and international corporate arrogance is a serious issue, endangering all of us when, for them, accountability is a mere afterthought, something that can be ignored or simply paid to go away? The examples are many but last month, after Cruise failed to fully divulge the details of an October 2nd, 2023 accident involving one of their autonomous vehicles, California regulators suspended their ability to operate.
On October 2nd, a jaywalker in San Francisco entered an intersection and was struck by a normally operated vehicle. Upon striking the woman, the driver fled but unfortunately, the vehicle behind her, a Cruise robotaxi, subsequently ran over the fallen pedestrian, dragging her for a distance of at least twenty feet, causing extensive injuries.
Making the matter worse, Cruise was less than candid concerning their involvement, unleashing a fire storm of criticism. This is when Cruise was told to stop operating. Having no choice, the optics terrible, Cruise suspended its service nationwide, with no clear date when it would resume. All this led to the November 19th resignation of Kyle Vogt, the Cruise CEO. Further heightening tensions, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened its own investigation concerning the overall safety of autonomous vehicles. All this is certainly unwelcome news for industry proponents.
As many might remember, City of San Francisco officials were adamantly opposed to Cruise and Waymo operating in their city without further review, screaming out loud that the technology was still unproven, constituting a threat to city residents. Not a good way to be proven correct after being ignored for months on end by State of California regulators.
Thankfully, it seems the pedestrian will survive her near fatal mishap. Whether Cruise will survive is another question entirely. General Motors had already funneled 8.2 billion dollars into the project. GM must be glad the woman survived the accident, a death only provoking further outrage. And concerning the victim, when will everyone learn that walking in front of moving cars is a very bad idea? Must everyone require a seeing eye dog? Woof Woof! I believe is the correct answer.
Is Puget Sound Dispatch (Seattle Yellow Cab) Self-Destructing?
What is going on internally with Seattle's largest remaining taxicab association/company? First, a few months ago, Tina, their fiercely loyal dispatch manager, was dismissed for reasons never revealed. Now I hear that Zem (Bershabet Yilma) quit PSD in frustration over the direction it is taking. For those who don't know, Zem was a "calming force," the "glue" keeping a fractured company from scattering into the taxi wind. Zem was a rarity in the taxi industry, infusing a natural wisdom not usually seen. Her unexplained departure is an ominous warning. Seattle requires a functional taxi company. Can PSD/Yellow survive now that she is gone?
City/County taxicab regulators should be alarmed. With all of their recent actions designed to assist and enable industry survival, this can only be deflating, exposing PSD's real vulnerability. Someone must quickly ask PSD this question: "Do you know what you are doing?"
From my 35 plus year taxi perspective, it is an essential question. Ten, twenty years ago, industry incompetence could be safely ignored. Times have obviously changed. Foolishness is no longer tenable, the once BYG taxi co-op (Yellow) having barely survived Frank Dogwilla's managerial arrogance that was directly fueled by David Friend's operational interference. Will Zem's absence prove fatal to the tattered remains that is PSD? Perhaps.
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