February 4 news: According to data released on Friday, U.S. time, driverless cars drove nearly 3.3 million miles (approximately 5.3 million kilometers) in California in 2023, more than five times the previous year. However, problems such as accidents involving Cruise's self-driving taxis have aroused public concern.
According to data released by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), General Motors' Cruise and Alphabet's Waymo have driven the most autonomous vehicles, accounting for 63% and 36% of the total miles respectively.
Driverless taxis are already very common in the San Francisco area. Last year, a Cruise self-driving taxi hit a pedestrian and dragged it 6.1 meters, sparking a public outcry that prompted the company to halt plans to operate self-driving taxis nationwide.
DMV data also shows that from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023, the number of autonomous driving test miles equipped with safety drivers increased from 5.1 million miles (approximately 8.2 million kilometers) to 5.7 million miles (approximately 9.17 million kilometers).
Proponents have long claimed that self-driving technology is safer than human drivers, who are likely to drink, text and drive, or fall asleep at the wheel.
However, San Francisco residents, city agencies and some labor unions have complained that self-driving taxis disrupt traffic and drive erratically, often stopping suddenly in the middle of busy roads and putting people at risk.
In October last year, the DMV suspended Cruise's driverless taxi testing and deployment license, and the company faced multiple investigations including the U.S. Department of Justice.
On Friday, the DMV also said that 38 companies have received permits to test self-driving vehicles with safety drivers. Six of the companies have been approved for driverless testing, namely Waymo, Amazon's Zoox, Baidu's Apollo, and startups Nuro, WeRide and AutoX.