Police are investigating an incident that saw a woman seriously injured after she was hit by a car in a hit-and-run and then pinned under a driverless autonomous taxi in San Francisco on Monday.
A photo of the woman being stuck under the driverless Cruise AV has circulated online, with many raising questions about the safety of such vehicles.
The woman was freed by firefighters but is currently hospitalized in critical condition.
Video from the Cruise vehicle, which was viewed by CBS News, showed the woman crossing against the light when a sedan hit her. After getting hit, she ended up in front of the self-driving car, landing on the hood before falling in front of it while it rolled over her and stopped.
“At approximately 9:30 pm on October 2, a human-driven vehicle struck a pedestrian while traveling in the lane immediately to the left of a Cruise AV,” Cruise said in a statement on social media. “The initial impact was severe and launched the pedestrian directly in front of the AV. The AV then braked aggressively to minimize the impact. The driver of the other vehicle fled the scene, and at the request of the police, the AV was kept in place.”
Firefighters eventually used the jaws of life to free her from underneath the vehicle, and she was promptly taken to a local hospital.
The driver of the first sedan that hit her is still on the run.
Cruise shared with the media outlet that its vehicles are involved in 65% fewer crashes than rideshares driven by people. In the “vast majority” of incidents they have been involved in, the vehicles were “either legally stopped, rear-ended, or had the right of way.”
Lt. Mariano Elias of the San Francisco Fire Department seemed to back this sentiment, telling CNN this was the first incident “where we have a serious bodily injury from an autonomous vehicle.”
Still, the autonomous rides have caused a public outcry, with some residents disabling the vehicles by putting traffic cones on their hoods.
The incident has launched an investigation from the San Francisco Police Department.
“Our heartfelt concern and focus is the wellbeing of the person who was injured, and we are actively working with police to help identify the responsible driver,” a Cruise spokesperson told CNN.