GM's Cruise begins testing all-electric driverless taxis in Raleigh
General Motors' all-electric driverless car company Cruise announced Tuesday it started its initial testing phase in Raleigh.
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Have you seen a driverless taxi in Raleigh this week?
General Motors' all-electric driverless car company Cruise announced Tuesday it started its initial testing phase in Raleigh so the technology can adjust to the city's roads and driver behavior. Passengers are not yet able to request a ride.
"For now, our vehicles will be manually driven by a human driver behind the wheel, but you might start to see them around as we get used to Raleigh's driving environment," said a spokesperson for the company.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles asked for the reduction after a Cruise vehicle without a human driver collided with an unspecified emergency vehicle.
In a statement to The Associated Press, the DMV said Cruise "will have no more than 50 driverless vehicles in operation during the day and 150 driverless vehicles in operation at night.”
The development came just over a week after California regulators allowed Cruise and Google spinoff Waymo to operate autonomous robotaxis throughout San Francisco at all hours.
- No driver's license is required to operate one, but there is a minimum age of 12 to ride in one unsupervised
- The registered owner of a driverless car is responsible for any violations
- The vehicles are required to meet federal safety regulations.
"I am excited that they’re here testing this out," said Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin.
"It’s always a concern, but so are people driving," Baldwin said. "We have more accidents now than we’ve ever had.
"We’ve had more pedestrian fatalities, and that’s with people driving cars."
Have you seen a Cruise taxi?
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