Chevrolet has recalled all self-driving Cruise Bolt cars.
The General Motors owned carmaker has requested the return of all of its 950 vehicles so that they can update the software following one of the cars dragging a pedestrian to the side of a San Francisco street last month and a ban being issued.
The company revealed that California safety regulators would ensure all the cars can move if a similar accident happens again via documents from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Administration.
Since the incident on Oct. 2 — which saw a driver of another car hit someone walking, pushing them into the path of the autonomous car, which then went on to stop but still hit the individual before going on to pull them under the car — they have begun testing the new software update designed to make the cars safer.
“We strive to continually improve and to make these events even rarer. As our software continues to improve, it is likely we will file additional recalls to inform both NHTSA and the public of updates to enhance safety across our fleet,” General Motors said in a statement.
The company added that they intended to hire a chief safety officer, along with a team of lawyers to look at their reaction to the crash and find an independent engineering service to figure out what allowed this to happen in the first place as part of their attempt to understand the whole picture and prevent it from happening again.
The NHTSA began their investigation on Oct. 16 by looking into four reports that Cruise cars did not act properly when considering threats to people using the sidewalk.
Their report — which found another incident along with this catalyst event — found that complaints included allegations that their cars were acting without a driver and “encroaching on pedestrians present in or entering roadways, including pedestrian crosswalks in the proximity of the intended travel path of the vehicles.”
