Cruise self-driving taxis updated to better interact with emergency vehicles

Autonomous driving company Cruise has confirmed it is making changes to its fleet of self-driving taxis to improve their interactions with first-responder vehicles.

The General Motors subsidiary’s autonomous vehicles (AVs) have come under criticism, particularly in San Francisco where the local fire department has been vocal about blockages and delays caused by driverless cabs, citing scores of “disruptive episodes” over the past couple of years.

Now, in a blog post, Cruise has acknowledged the issue and claimed that following discussions with fire officials, police, emergency medical services and other stakeholders, it has come up with some “key innovations” aimed at “minimizing operational impact, quickly exiting emergency scenes, and increasing predictability.”

Among several specific outcomes that the company says are now feasible will be self-driving taxis slowing down earlier than is currently the case when a siren is detected. According to Cruise, they will reduce their speed to 70% of the posted limit, even if the emergency vehicle is not visible.

The AVs’ ability to predict if a fire truck will drive through an intersection against a red light is also being enhanced, as is the capability to detect emergency scenes, which can now be identified “earlier and from farther away.”

In addition, Cruise claimed that the design of its AVs has been improved “to more effectively bypass double-parked emergency vehicles to help prevent the AV from getting stuck behind … and blocking traffic.”

To read the complete article, visit IoT World Today.