Out of control ‘robo-taxi’ driving caught on camera by terrified passengers

The passenger of an autonomous ‘robo-taxi’ in the US has filmed the moment the driverless car erratically swerved towards a footpath and illegally reversed through an intersection in San Francisco – just days before road safety regulators launched a probe into one of the industry’s biggest companies.

In a video uploaded to social media platform TikTok, user ‘howbout’ shared footage of the driverless robo-taxi driving through a San Francisco street when it suddenly turns right towards a footpath, cutting across a lane of traffic in the process.

After coming to a rest in an intersection, the driverless robo-taxi starts to reverse back towards oncoming traffic but stops again with cars behind and beside it waiting to resume their journeys – though its three occupants are unable to control the autonomous car.

One of the robo-taxi’s passengers can be heard saying “I don’t want to be a beta tester” – referencing the practice of autonomous car companies relying on real-world data from their vehicles on public roads to develop the driverless operating systems.

While the video’s caption says the vehicle was a “driverless Uber”, it appears to be a Chevrolet Bolt – which are used exclusively by General Motors-owned robo-taxi company Cruise.

Cruise is the largest operator of robo-taxis in San Francisco, though earlier this week the peak body for road safety regulation in the US launched a probe into the firm – amid concerns about how driverless cars interact with pedestrians.

At least two Cruise robo-taxis have been reported for incidents involving injured pedestrians, the most recent of which occurred earlier this month when a woman who was struck by a human-driven car in a hit-and-run incident subsequently became trapped under a Cruise robo-taxi.

The investigating authority – the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) – has said the reports suggest Cruise’s robo-taxis are “encroaching on pedestrians present in or entering roadways, including pedestrian crosswalks, in the proximity of the intended travel path of the vehicles". 

Cruise was probed by the NHTSA in December 2022 following two injuries sustained in rear-end crashes – both of which were attributed to the driverless cars “inappropriately” braking hard or becoming immobilised.

Earlier this year the California Public Utilities Commission – the state’s regulatory agency for privately owned public utilities – voted in favour of allowing Cruise and fellow ‘robotaxi’ operator Waymo to operate their autonomous cars with greater frequency.

The new rules – which were reportedly passed three votes to one – allow Cruise and Waymo autonomous vehicles to operate for 24 hours per day, seven days a week in San Francisco and part of the nearby San Mateo County.

Following two incidents on San Francisco roads in August, Cruise was ordered by California’s Department of Motor Vehicles to reduce its operations in the state, resulting in no more than 50 autonomous vehicles being on the roads during the day and a maximum of 150 at night until its investigations are completed.