General Motors’ driverless subsidiary, Cruise, has suspended all supervised and manual autonomous vehicle operations in the US.

This follows suspension of rides in San Francisco following a collision with a pedestrian in the city last month. The person had been hit by a human-driven vehicle who then drove away before the collision with the driverless vehicle.

California’s Department of Motor Vehicles suspended the company’s driverless permits following the crash.

In a blog post, Cruise says, “on October 26, we announced a pause of all our driverless operations while we take time to examine our processes, systems, and tools and improve how we operate. In the coming days, we are also pausing our supervised and manual AV operations in the U.S., affecting roughly 70 vehicles. This orderly pause is a further step to rebuild public trust while we undergo a full safety review. We will continue to operate our vehicles in closed course training environments and maintain an active simulation program in order to stay focused on advancing AV technology.

“Cruise is dedicated to rebuilding trust and operating at the highest standards of safety. We are committed to keeping our customers, regulators, and the public informed throughout this process.”

The company hired the independent, third-party engineering consulting firm, Exponent, to conduct a technical root cause analysis of the October 2 crash. It says that work is ongoing, and the Board plans to expand Exponent’s remit to include a comprehensive review of safety systems and technology.

It has also announced it will hire a permanent Chief Safety Officer and that the Cruise Board will retain a third-party safety expert in the coming weeks to perform a full assessment of Cruise’s safety operations and culture. It says these independent findings will help further guide and inform the work we have initiated.

(Picture – Cruise)