A Cruise autonomous vehicle drove toward fire hoses on the ground in the area of active firefighting on January 21, the city’s transport officials said in a letter to regulators on Wednesday.
“Firefighters on the scene made efforts to prevent the Cruise AV from driving over their hoses and were not able to do so until they shattered a front window of the Cruise AV,” the letter says.
Only Cruise experts can disengage the AV from autonomous mode and immobilize the vehicle, according to a video posted on Cruise’s official YouTube channel. It also says when its cars are in manual mode, they can be placed in park or neutral.
A similar incident occurred in June 2022 when a self-driving Cruise car ran over a fire hose that was in use, the letter says. It also said that driving over a fire hose violates California’s Vehicle Code and can “seriously injure firefighters.”