The California department of motor vehicles has suspended Cruise from operating its driverless taxis in the city of San Francisco, marking the latest turn for the embattled company that partnered with the Giants this summer.
There is no time set for the suspension, for which the DMV cited “an unreasonable risk to public safety.”
Officials from the Giants and Cruise didn’t immediately comment about the status of their partnership. Their announced agreement runs through 2025.
In August, the Giants made Cruise their official, exclusive jersey patch sponsor. Around the same time, Cruise and competing driverless taxi company Waymo received permission to operate commercially at all hours in San Francisco.
Since then, Cruise has had a number of high profile incidents. Its fleet got cut in half shortly after the regulatory approval as a string of crashes involving the robotaxis were being investigated.
On Oct. 2, a driverless Cruise car trapped a pedestrian who was hit by another car, resulting in traumatic injuries.
In at least one other incident, the San Francisco fire department blamed Cruise for hindering life-saving efforts in an emergency situation.
Some city activists have protested the autonomous vehicles, at times disabling the cars by defiantly placing traffic cones on top of the cars’ sensors.
The DMV’s announcement also included a line that stated Cruise “misrepresented (any) information related to safety of the autonomous technology of its vehicles.”
The Giants and Cruise announced their partnership on Aug. 3. Their historic agreement — including an elaborate marketing rollout — involves a Jersey patch and mutual commitments to develop electric vehicle charging station infrastructure around Oracle Park and the Mission Rock area.
“We’re excited about it,” Giants CEO Larry Baer told KNBR.com. “The thing about Cruise is it’s a San Francisco company, it represents innovation, and it represents the new economy. That’s kind of what we’re about, we view ourselves as the team of Silicon Valley.”
As Cruise became rife with public issues, some Giants fans quipped online that the partnership cast a curse on the team. When the Giants began wearing the uniform patch on Aug. 3, they held a 61-49 record and a 75.4% chance at reaching the postseason. With the patch the rest of the way, they went 18-34 and finished below .500. Gabe Kapler, who line-read infamously corporate gobbledygook in a promotional video, got dismissed with three games left in the season.
If the Giants and Cruise continue their partnership, it’s possible the team wears jersey patches advertising the company while its vehicles aren’t authorized to operate as intended around the ballpark.
