\n<\/p>\n
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters union is urging U.S. auto safety regulators to deny a petition by General Motors to grant an exemption to Cruise, the automaker\u2019s autonomous vehicle subsidiary, that would allow it to build its Origin AV without traditional vehicle safety standards.<\/p>\n
Cruise\u2019s Origin is purpose-built for autonomy, meaning it doesn\u2019t have a steering wheel or pedals. In early September, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt said the company was close to getting the green light<\/a> from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which would allow Cruise to start mass production of the Origins and begin putting them on public roads.<\/p>\n The Teamsters\u2019 resistance against Cruise, and AVs generally, is on brand for the union, which recently criticized California governor Gavin Newsom for vetoing a bill<\/a> that would ban driverless autonomous trucks on public roads in the state.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is dangerous for other motorists, for pedestrians, and for middle-class jobs for Cruise to make a request like this from NHTSA,\u201d said Sean O\u2019Brien, president of the union citing a series of \u201cdeeply concerning\u201d recent incidents in San Francisco.<\/p>\n \u201cTo allow this company to expand its fleet to put even more \u2018advanced\u2019 driverless cars on the road would be catastrophic for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n The NHTSA did not respond to TechCrunch with a timeline for its decision on GM\u2019s petition. The agency is expected to announce a new rule-making<\/a> this fall around the deployment of noncompliant autonomous vehicles, which could clear the path for federal regulation around self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n GM\u2019s petition, filed in February 2021, asks for exemptions from six federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) for the Origin, specifically for parts that are required in vehicles manufactured and sold in the U.S. For example, all vehicles must have windshield wiping and washing systems so human drivers can see the road clearly. Vehicles also must have a transmission shifter that follows a specific sequence for parking, reverse and drive. Since the Origin is designed without a human driver in mind, there is no physical transmission shifter.<\/p>\n A public comment period for the exemptions wrapped up in August 2022.\u00a0Cruise said Wednesday that the majority of public comments filed on its petition were positive.<\/p>\n The AV company has faced a lot of pressure recently after California regulators granted Cruise a permit to expand<\/a> its commercial robotaxi services across San Francisco 24\/7. In the weeks following that hearing, Cruise vehicles were involved in a number of incidents involving robotaxis malfunctioning and stalling in the middle of the street, and a collision with a fire truck<\/a> that prompted the California Department of Motor Vehicles to order Cruise to immediately take half of its robotaxis<\/a> off the roads. The DMV is also investigating \u201crecent concerning incidents.\u201d<\/p>\n In December, the NHTSA opened a formal safety probe into Cruise\u2019s AVs after reports of two injuries in rear-end crashes. The NHTSA said Cruise vehicles may engage in inappropriately hard braking or become immobilized.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven fundamental questions raised concerning the safety record of the petitioner, and ongoing failures to detail components of the Origin\u2019s operations, at this time we do not believe that GM\/Cruise can operate a FMVSS-exempted vehicle at the level of safety standards required by federal law and regulation,\u201d the Teamsters wrote in a statement.<\/p>\n The Teamsters\u2019 opposition to the Cruise Origin also comes at a time when unions have the mic. The United Auto Workers Union is currently striking<\/a> GM, Ford and Stellantis in factories across the U.S. President Joe Biden, whose administration oversees the NHTSA, joined the picket line<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n