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Cruise robotaxi collides with fire truck in San Francisco, leaving one injured

One week after california approved 24/7 paid robotaxi services in san francisco, a crash occurred between an autonomous cruise taxi and a city fire department truck late at night..

By Umar Shakir , a news writer fond of the electric vehicle lifestyle and things that plug in via USB-C. He spent over 15 years in IT support before joining The Verge.

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A Cruise robotaxi in San Francisco collided with a San Francisco Fire Department truck late Thursday, CNBC reports . A passenger riding inside the Cruise self-driving vehicle suffered “non-severe injuries” and was transported in an ambulance, according to an official company post on X (formally Twitter) this morning.

The company says its car, which was driverless at the time, “entered the intersection on a green light” before getting “struck by an emergency vehicle.” The post noted that the fire department vehicle was on its way to an emergency scene, suggesting the possibility that the Cruise vehicle did not yield to an emergency vehicle. The crash occurred around 10PM local time in the Tenderloin district of the city.

“We are investigating to better understand our AVs performance, and will be in touch with the City of San Francisco about the event,” Cruise’s post reads.

The incident comes less than a week after the California Public Utilities Commission voted to allow paid 24/7 robotaxi services in San Francisco, handing companies like Cruise and Alphabet-owned Waymo a huge victory.

City officials and residents have pleaded with the state to slow down the efforts , citing incidents in which self-driving cars have interfered with emergency vehicles. San Francisco Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson said the vehicles were “not ready for prime time.” The department at the time logged 66 incidents in which robotaxis interfered with fire trucks, starting in May 2022.

Since Cruise began testing in San Francisco, its vehicles have obstructed traffic on multiple occasions, including a situation where 10 autonomous vehicles halted traffic in a busy intersection during a music festival. And a cement mason’s worst nightmare occurred on Tuesday when a Cruise vehicle reportedly got stuck in wet concrete .

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An Autonomous Car Blocked a Fire Truck Responding to an Emergency

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On an early April morning, around 4 am, a San Francisco Fire Department truck responding to a fire tried to pass a doubled-parked garbage truck by using the opposing lane. But a traveling autonomous vehicle , operated by the General Motors subsidiary Cruise without anyone inside, was blocking its path. While a human might have reversed to clear the lane, the Cruise car stayed put. The fire truck only passed the blockage when the garbage truck driver ran from their work to move their vehicle.

“This incident slowed SFFD response to a fire that resulted in property damage and personal injuries,” city officials wrote in a filing submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission. The city wrote that the fire department is concerned that Cruise vehicles stop too often in travel lanes, which could have a “negative impact” on fire department response times.

It’s the most unnerving of a handful of incidents involving Cruise vehicles alleged by the city of San Francisco, as officials object to parts of a proposed permit program being crafted by the California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates ride-hail across the state.

Tiffany Testo, a spokesperson for Cruise, confirmed the incident. She said the driverless car had correctly yielded to the oncoming fire truck in the opposing lane and contacted the company’s remote assistance workers, who are able to operate vehicles in trouble from afar. According to Cruise, which collects camera and sensor data from its testing vehicles, the fire truck was able to move forward approximately 25 seconds after it first encountered the autonomous vehicle. In a statement, Testo says that Cruise “works closely with first responders, including SFFD, and have been in contact with them regarding this encounter.” The city’s filing said the department has requested a meeting with Cruise about the incident, but that it has yet to take place.

The SFFD also confirmed the incident, which involved Engine 12, based in the city's Parnassus Heights neighborhood. "Pre-Covid, the department was in discussions with both electric (EV) and autonomous vehicles for training," said SFFD spokesperson Jonathan Baxter in a statement. "We have been successful with EV training and continue to seek industry training related to autonomous vehicles."

In San Francisco, Cruise is just one of the dueling self-driving car developers that say they’re working to build a safer driving future. Waymo , an Alphabet company and a spinoff from Google, and Zoox, now owned by Amazon , both have a presence on the city’s steep, winding roads, and locals don’t have to travel far to see sensor-laden Jaguar I-Paces , Chevrolet Bolts , and Toyota Highlanders tracing routes around downtown and residential neighborhoods. Now Cruise is applying for a permit that would allow it to launch the state’s first driverless ride-hail service. The sprawling, expensive science experiment could also change the way many city dwellers navigate their cities.

San Francisco alleges two more incidents: one, in late April, in which a Cruise vehicle traveling through a work zone stopped in a crosswalk and didn’t move for five minutes, blocking traffic; and another in April, captured on camera , in which police officers stopped a Cruise vehicle without a driver because it didn't have its headlights on.

The filing comes as a state agency is in the midst of writing rules that would allow Cruise to move ahead with its plans to operate limited but paid ride-hail services across the state. In San Francisco, a new permit would expand Cruise’s existing program. It currently allows select members of the pubic to take autonomous rides between 10 pm and 6 am, in 70 percent of the city. If the company wins a new permit, it could start to collect fares for the rides, which would still occur at night and in the early morning, and not in rain or fog. It would mark the launch of the state’s first driverless ride-hail service.

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But in the filing, San Francisco officials express concern that the expanded deployment would continue to let Cruise vehicles stop to pick up and drop off passengers in travel lanes, instead of pulling over to the curb. Human drivers can be ticketed if they are caught failing to pull 18 inches or closer to curbs before they let passengers in or out of cars. But in its own filing, a lawyer for Cruise argued the law allows any car to stop in a travel lane if it’s “reasonably necessary”—even if there’s no human driver behind the wheel. The Cruise software defaults to pulling over to curbs when safe, the company says, but cars sometimes engage in “lawful and safe double parking” when it is the only option.

The city’s document noted that, “with some conspicuous exceptions,” Cruise’s vehicles are generally “cautious and compliant.”

The fire truck incident is a classic “corner case”—a road incident so strange or rare that it can be hard for self-driving vehicle developers to anticipate it. Experts say that even as autonomous vehicle software advances, it will continue to run into these fluke s. Corner or edge cases are one reason many companies like Cruise hire humans to remotely monitor their driverless technology , to intervene from afar if anything unexpected happens on the road. They also help explain why many in the industry now concede that no one will ever build a car that can operate on all roads, in all conditions—what people call “Level 5” or “full” self-driving.

Still, automakers and software developers are spending plenty to get as close to that ideal as they can. General Motors and Cruise say they will pour $35 billion into electric and autonomous vehicles by 2025, and $2 billion into AVs this year alone . The automaker initially missed a self-imposed deadline , after it said it would launch a driverless ride-hail service in San Francisco in 2019. The delay reflects wider doldrums in the autonomous vehicle space, as some competitors— Uber , Lyft—sold their self-driving units and others missed much-publicized targets for producing a self-driving car.

In the interim, a set of well-capitalized players keep hacking away at the problem. Waymo continues to expand its self-driving car service in Phoenix, though customers have to gain access to a “trusted tester” program, and some of its vehicles still operate with safety drivers behind the wheel. In March, the company said it began to offer San Francisco employees totally driverless rides. The startup Aurora has shifted its focus to trucking . Amazon-owned Zoox this week unveiled its prototype vehicle , a mint-green toaster on wheels . And Cruise says its purpose-built self-driving shuttle, called the Origin , will go into production next year.

But before they get very far, self-driving car developers will have to prove that they can operate in cities safely, especially when emergency vehicles are involved.

This story has been updated to include a statement from SFFD and to clarify details around Cruise's current ride-hail program.

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Cruise robotaxi crashes into firetruck in San Francisco

The cruise driverless vehicle was transporting one person at the time of the crash.

Cruise car collides with San Francisco Fire Department truck

The driverless car allegedly did not yield to the firetruck's flashing lights as it went through an intersection Aug. 17, 2022. (Credit: John Freeman)

An autonomous vehicle belonging to Cruise’s robotaxi fleet and a fire truck collided during a late-night wreck in San Francisco last week, according to both city police and the company.

In a post Friday morning on social media site X, formerly Twitter, Cruise said the two vehicles slammed into each other Thursday night in a downtown intersection while the company’s driverless car was transporting one person. 

The crash with the emergency vehicle, which Cruise said "appeared to be en route to an emergency scene," happened after the robotaxi "entered the intersection on a green light," according to its post.

The fire truck was "operating in a ‘Code 3’ emergency mode" that included activated lights and sirens at the time, a San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) spokesperson told FOX Business. Officers responded around 10:20 p.m.

SAN FRANCISCO ROBOTAXIS CAUSE TRAFFIC ‘FIASCO' DAY AFTER EXPANSION APPROVED

Photos of the incident suggested the Cruise robotaxi sustained damage to its right side, particularly on its doors. The airbags also appeared to have deployed, according to the pictures. 

A driverless Cruise was involved in a crash in San Francisco Aug. 17, 2023. | Fox News

Cruise said in a blog post Friday its autonomous vehicle "positively identified the emergency vehicle almost immediately as it came into view, which is consistent with our underlying safety design and expectation."

The company said "several factors" added to the "complexity of this specific incident." It pointed to the intersection being "significantly occluded by buildings" making "visual identification more challenging" and said the fire truck "was in the oncoming lane of traffic, which it had moved into to bypass the red light," something that made tracking its path more "complicated." 

"The Cruise AV did identify the risk of a collision and initiated a braking maneuver, reducing its speed, but was ultimately unable to avoid the collision," Cruise said. 

Employees wearing florescent jackets labeled "Cruise" were at the crash site after the accident, according to a photo. Footage also showed a tow truck arrived to assist with the response. 

A driverless Cruise sits at an intersection after a crash in San Francisco Aug. 17, 2023. | Fox News

Cruise said it has "been in contact to offer support and will remain in touch" with the individual riding in the robotaxi that got hit. That person went to the hospital for "non-life-threatening injuries," a SFPD spokesperson told FOX Business. 

CALIFORNIA DMV REQUESTS CRUISE TO HALVE DRIVERLESS CAR FLEET AFTER COLLISION WITH FIRETRUCK IN SAN FRANCISCO

In a statement, the California Department of Motor Vehicles told Fox News Digital it had "requested Cruise to immediately reduce its active fleet of operating vehicles by 50% until the investigation is complete and Cruise takes appropriate corrective actions to improve road safety." 

That request was made a day after the accident.

A driverless Cruise sits at an intersection following a collision in San Francisco Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. According to an eyewitness, the driverless car failed to yield to the firetruck’s emergency lights as it passed through an intersection, resulting in the crash. | Fox News

The General Motors subsidiary said in its blog post Friday it would "continue to work in partnership with regulators and city departments on EMV interactions to reduce the likelihood of incidents like these happening again."

Cruise and another autonomous vehicle company, Waymo, have had clearance to operate at all hours in San Francisco since Aug. 10. 

SAN FRANCISCO ROBOTAXI EXPANSION APPROVED BY CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION DESPITE SAFETY CONCERNS

In addition to San Francisco, Cruise has driverless taxi rides available in Austin and Phoenix, according to its website. The company said Tuesday on social media it had kicked off conducting some initial testing in Raleigh, North Carolina, something it has done in other cities previously.

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.

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VIDEO: Driverless Cruise car struck by SF firetruck, injuring passenger, company says

This is the first accident since CPUC gave two driverless car companies the green light to operate

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A driverless Cruise car and a firetruck collided in San Francisco late Thursday night, sending one passenger to the hospital.

The crash happened at the intersection of Turk and Polk in the city's Tenderloin district after 10 p.m. The incident was immediately called in: "Yeah, can you dispatch a battalion chief? We've been involved in an accident versus a Cruise vehicle. There was one person in the vehicle."

As seen in multiples videos, the firetruck was apparently headed southbound but had moved into the northbound lane, something trucks do to get around other cars.

One of the firefighters involved in the accident told police what he claims the Cruise vehicle did at the intersection.

He says: "It looked like it lurched."

RELATED: San Francisco asks CPUC to pump brakes on robotaxi expansion, or city may 'suffer serious harm'

Cruise posted on social media Friday morning that one of their cars entered the intersection on a green light and was struck by an emergency vehicle on the way to an emergency scene.

One passenger was in the car, who Cruise says was treated for non-severe injuries.

"We are investigating to better understand our AVs performance, and will be in touch with the City of San Francisco about the event," Cruise posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The company posted that its primary concern is the rider and their welfare, saying they're mindful of the first responders and anyone affected by the incident.

The California Vehicle Code says it is illegal in California not to yield the right of way to an emergency vehicle approaching with its lights and sirens.

MORE: San Francisco officials consider action against CPUC's decision for 24/7 robotaxi rides

But here's where the human element comes into play. When someone is driving and hears sirens or sees emergency light, they don't move the vehicle, even if they have the green light.

Still, that doesn't mean the fire department gets a pass. It's the fire department's responsibility to make sure that the intersection is free and clear.

We took a video Friday afternoon just as a fire truck was driving by at precisely the same intersection. Cars had already pulled over and stopped. The fire truck moved to the wrong side of the road to get past them. As the truck moved through the intersection, it moved back into its lane right before going by a Cruise vehicle which by the way, did not immediately stop like its supposed to. It eventually came to a complete stop but only after the fire truck has passed it.

Friday afternoon, the mayor called for a meeting at City Hall to hear from the Fire chief. We were there.

"I can't talk right now, I'm going to a meeting, said Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson who said the matter is "under investigation."

RELATED: Historic weekend as driverless cars navigate through streets of San Francisco

Board President Aaron Peskin has cautioned this could happen. He too was at that meeting.

"It was just a matter of time. I'm waiting for the police to determine fault," said Peskin.

This collision happened about a week after CPUC voted to allow Cruise and Waymo to expand robotaxi services in the city, allowing them to charge for driverless rides around the clock.

These types of incidents are the reason some oppose the expansion.

The San Francisco Fire Chief has been vocal about opposing expanding robotaxi service in the city and San Francisco officials are calling on California regulators to pump the brakes, citing safety issues.

Waymo will start charging for rides 24/7 on Monday and Cruise is already accepting fares.

After our initial report, Cruise released a statement regarding the crash, in part:

"The AV positively identified the emergency vehicle almost immediately as it came into view, which is consistent with our underlying safety design and expectation. It is worth noting, however, that the confines of this specific intersection make visual identification more challenging - for humans and AVs alike - as it is significantly occluded by buildings, meaning that it is not possible to see objects around the corner until they are physically very close to the intersection. The AV's ability to successfully chart the emergency vehicle's path was complicated by the fact that the emergency vehicle was in the oncoming lane of traffic, which it had moved into to bypass the red light. Cruise AVs have the ability to detect emergency sirens, which increase their ability to operate safely around emergency vehicles and accompanying scenes. In this instance, the AV identified the siren as soon as it was distinguishable from the background noise. The Cruise AV did identify the risk of a collision and initiated a braking maneuver, reducing its speed, but was ultimately unable to avoid the collision."

ABC7 News confirmed late Friday night that Cruise has agreed to a DMV request that the company immediately reduce its fleet of driverless cars by 50% while it investigates "concerning incidents."

With the request, Cruise will have no more than 50 driverless vehicles in operation during the day and 150 driverless vehicles in operation at night.

If you're on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live

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Cruise robotaxi involved in a crash with fire truck, one passenger injured

A Cruise robotaxi and an emergency vehicle crashed late Thursday night and left a passenger injured. The crash is the latest in a string of incidents that occurred this week after winning approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to expand commercial operations in San Francisco.

Cruise posted a few details about the crash on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. Cruise said one of its self-driving Chevy Bolt EVs entered an intersection on a green traffic light at Polk and Turk streets when it was struck by an emergency vehicle that appeared to be en route to an emergency scene. A video posted by FriscoLive415 that includes police scanner information shows the airbags deployed in the vehicle and the passenger was complaining of a headache.

A Cruise spokesperson said the company would provide an update as soon as it can.

Cruise, self-driving vehicle subsidiary under GM, said there was one passenger in the car, who was “treated on scene and transported via ambulance for what we believe are non-severe injuries.”

The company also added it would investigate to better understand the performance of its autonomous vehicles and will be in touch with the City of San Francisco about the event.

The crash, which occurred around 10 p.m. Thursday, comes a day after San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu filed motions with the CPUC to pause the firms’ plans to charge for robotaxi rides in the city at all hours. Chiu’s arguments parallel comments made by residents and other city officials during a public hearing ahead of the CPUC’s vote.

San Francisco presses CPUC to halt Waymo, Cruise robotaxi expansions

Despite opposition, the CPUC voted to approve Cruise and Waymo’s final permit that allows both companies to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, charge for all driverless rides and expand their fleets. In the past week however, Cruise has had a series of snafus, including at least 10 of its driverless cars reportedly stalling and blocking traffic, which threatens to derail its commercial plans.

After disturbing week for Cruise robotaxis, state applies the brakes

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It was a week of robotaxi mayhem in San Francisco for the Cruise driverless car company — by turns bizarre, comic and alarming.

As a result, the California Department of Motor Vehicles said Friday it’s investigating “recent concerning incidents” involving Cruise vehicles while tapping the brakes on the company’s ambitious expansion plans.

The DMV didn’t say which incidents it’s probing, but over a seven-day period the events included:

— The bizarre, when a group of Cruise robotaxis drove together into the city’s North Beach district on the night of Aug. 11, froze in place , sat for 15 minutes blocking an intersection, then drove on. Cruise blamed cellphone service.

— The comic, when a Cruise robotaxi ignored construction signs on Tuesday and headed into a stretch of cement . Stuck in the wet muck, it was removed later by workers dispatched by Cruise.

— The alarming, when a Cruise robotaxi entered an intersection on a green light even as a fast-moving fire truck, l ights flashing and siren blaring , approached. The truck struck the car, occupied by one passenger, who was transported to a hospital. Cruise said the passenger sustained “what we believe are non-severe injuries.”

The day after the injury crash, the DMV announced its investigation and said Cruise agreed to halve the size of its fleet, to 50 robotaxis during the day and 150 at night. In a prepared statement, Cruise said it looks forward to working with the DMV and posted its version of events online.

San Francisco’s North Beach streets clogged as long line of Cruise robotaxis come to a standstill

Just one day after state officials approved massive robotaxi expansion in San Francisco, a long line of the driverless cars come to a standstill and clog traffic in North Beach neighborhood.

Aug. 12, 2023

The company plans to populate the city with thousands of robotaxis. Another company, Waymo, has similar plans. Cruise is owned by General Motors, Waymo by Alphabet, parent company of Google.

The DMV did not say how long its investigation might take. Another DMV investigation, into whether Tesla falsely advertises its driver-assist technology as “Full Self-Driving,” has been ongoing for two years and three months .

The latest robotaxi incidents occurred on the heels of a controversial California Public Utilities Commission vote Aug. 10 to approve massive expansion of robotaxis in San Francisco.

State legislators are becoming fed up with the state of driverless vehicle regulation in California. A bill is moving through the Legislature that would require human safety drivers in driverless trucks for at least the next five years. State Sen. Lena Gonzalez has expressed concern about the way the DMV regulates Tesla safety.

DMV Director Steve Gordon, a former Silicon Valley executive, was appointed to the post by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

San Francisco’s fire chief is fed up with robotaxis that mess with her firetrucks. And L.A. is next

As robotaxi companies plan to provide service in Los Angeles, San Francisco officials battle with state regulators over robotaxi safety.

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Meantime, city officials in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Santa Monica and elsewhere are frustrated at how little control they have over robotaxi deployment in their cities.

The CPUC voted 3-1 to approve robotaxi expansion. The no vote was cast by Genevieve Shiroma, who said she was not against robotaxis but that it made sense to solve safety issues such as interference with emergency vehicles before expansion is approved.

Voting in favor of expansion was John Reynolds , whose previous job was that of top lawyer at Cruise.

All five members of the CPUC were appointed by Newsom. Newsom’s office declined to comment.

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Cruise Vehicle Involved In Collision With SF Fire Truck; Separate Collision With Cruise Vehicle Occurs In Mission

It was a rough night for the robotaxis Thursday, with two self-driving Cruise vehicles getting into car crashes — one striking, or getting struck by, a fire truck that was responding to a call, and one passenger was hospitalized with a head injury.

It’s been a whack week for the self-driving robotaxis of Cruise, ironically timed just after they won state approval to run the self-driving cars on all SF streets at all hours and charge fares. The Chronicle reports that Cruise autonomous vehicles were involved in two separate accidents Thursday night , one where the Cruise car collided with a fire truck that was responding to a call, and the passenger inside the Cruise vehicle was treated for injuries.  

KPIX has video from the scene of that accident, which occurred at about 10:15 p.m. at Turk and Polk streets, a couple blocks north of City Hall. Cruise’s version of events is that “One of our cars entered the intersection on a green light and was struck by an emergency vehicle that appeared to be en route to an emergency scene.”

But KPIX actually spoke to a firefighter on the scene, which provides a whole different context. “According to a firefighter at the scene, the Cruise driverless autonomous vehicle did not yield to the fire truck that was responding to a call nearby,” that station reports.

Right, and so this adds more fuel to the fire, so to speak, of the debate the SF Fire Department was trying to have with state regulators about how these vehicles respond in emergency situations, and in the presence of emergency vehicles.

One of our cars entered the intersection on a green light and was struck by an emergency vehicle that appeared to be en route to an emergency scene. (2/5) — cruise (@Cruise) August 18, 2023

And yes, the passenger inside that Cruise vehicle was injured. Cruise says “Our car contained one passenger who was treated on scene and transported via ambulance for what we believe are non-severe injuries.”

KPIX adds that the Cruise's airbags activated but the person still suffered a blow to the head. No further word on that individual’s condition, but there were other social media videos posted by passersby.

Self-driving Cruise Robotaxi with a passenger makes a left turn and cuts in front of an SFFD Firetruck in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood on Thursday, 08/17. @kron4news @abc7newsbayarea @KTVU @kpixtv @nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/t9DEQMPP4B — Matyas Tamas (@matyast80) August 18, 2023

The second accident, which happened a couple hours later at Mission and 26th streets, is also shaping up to involve some dispute over what actually occurred and which vehicle was at fault. According to the Chronicle's version of events, which is based on a statement from Cruise, “another driverless car, which had no passengers, entered the intersection on a green light when another car ran a red light at a high speed.”

driverless car crash at 26th and mission. witnesses tell me the gray car had a green light on mission st and the cruise vehicle just stopped in the middle of the road coming down 26th. car occupants appear okay. pic.twitter.com/9Q77GMTmZl — Eleni Balakrishnan (@miss_elenius) August 18, 2023

But the above tweet from Mission Local reporter Eleni Balakrishnan says that “witnesses tell me the gray car had a green light on mission st and the cruise vehicle just stopped in the middle of the road coming down 26th.” And obviously, that’s some pretty severe damage.

Yes, these cars have cameras, so you’d think the footage would resolve any disputes. But will Cruise share that video? And how forthcoming will they be when there are disputes over what actually took place?

KGO also has video from the scene of the first accident with the fire truck, as well as remarks from City Attorney David Chiu, who just filed a motion with the state urging them to reverse that state-level regulatory approval of the driverless cars’ expanded use.

“San Francisco is really the experimental lab for this industry,” Chiu told the station. “We think it's critical that they work with the city to make sure that our residents are safe, and that they’re not interfering with out first responders, traffic flow, public transit, etcetera.”

@SFGate alternative headline: smart car dumb as bricks, gets stuck in cement https://t.co/Aan7pNdqSF — Dogs for Autonomous Vehicle Education (D.A.V.E.) (@Dogs4drivers) August 16, 2023

If the Cruise vehicle did, in fact, fail to yield to a fire truck, even if it had the green light, that may be another of the kinks that these self-driving cars have yet to figure out. And folks, these SF Fire Department already has a pretty contentious relationship with the self-driving car companies. Plus SFGate reported that a Crusie vehicle drove into and got stuck in wet concrete on Tuesday.

So it appears these things are still to some degree in learning mode with their machine learning. And for better or worse, now the state has approved the robotaxi expansion here, the rest of us on San Francisco streets and sidewalks are just along for the ride.

Related: Friday’s North Beach Self-Driving Car Clusterf*** Has SF Officials Begging the State to Walk Back Approval [SFist]

Image: Joe Kukura, SFist

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Driverless robotaxi crashes with fire truck in San Francisco; Passenger injured

Updated on: August 18, 2023 / 10:02 AM PDT / CBS San Francisco

A driverless robotaxi in San Francisco was involved in a collision with a fire truck in San Francisco Thursday evening, injuring the vehicle's passenger.

The crash happened at about 10:15 p.m. at Turk and Polk Streets just north of the Civic Center area. According to a firefighter at the scene, the Cruise driverless autonomous vehicle did not yield to the fire truck that was responding to a call nearby.

The truck hit the side of the car and triggered the vehicle's airbags. A woman in the back seat bumped her head and Cruise said in a statement Friday that the passenger was transported by ambulance "for what we believe are non-severe injuries."

Cruise also said it was investigating the crash and was in touch with city officials.

The collision came a day after San Francisco filed a motion asking the state to pause its implementation of expanded driverless car operations by both Cruise and Waymo. 

City officials called for the suspension of robotaxi rollouts following multiple reports of the vehicles causing traffic issues or interfering with first responders. On August 11, a day after Cruise and Waymo received authorization for expanded operations, Cruise vehicles brought traffic to a standstill in the North Beach neighborhood as some 10 disabled cars jammed traffic on Vallejo Street near Grant Avenue on a busy Friday night.

Cruise told KPIX that the Outside Lands Music Festival impacted its vehicles.

"They should take a time-out and a pause until they've perfected this technology in a way where people don't end up burning to death or getting injured," said San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin last week.

After city officials called for the pause in expanded robotaxi service Wednesday, Waymo gave KPIX a statement, saying, "We fully support the CPUC's carefully considered decision to authorize Waymo to charge fares for driverless rides. We will follow this development closely, and in the meantime, continue providing safe and accessible mobility to San Franciscans."

A spokesperson for Cruise said in a statement, "The CPUC's decision was the result of a months-long process that saw public input and support from accessibility groups, labor unions, and community advocates--culminating in a six-hour public comment period where the majority supported expanded AV access. It's unfortunate to see the city use public resources to bypass that decision and restrict a technology with an excellent safety record used by tens of thousands of SF residents."

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GM’s Cruise agrees to immediately take half its robotaxis off San Francisco’s streets after crash with firetruck sends passenger to hospital

Robotaxi companies Cruise and Waymo were already in the doghouse as far as Jeanine Nicholson was concerned.

The San Francisco fire department chief, who this month snapped it wasn’t the job of firefighters to “ babysit their vehicles ,” now saw one of her trucks on the way to an emergency collide with a Cruise self-driving car just days after the duo received the green light to expand their operations in a controversial vote.

The General Motors–backed A.I. startup has now agreed with state traffic safety officials to immediately slash the size of its San Francisco fleet by half as a precautionary measure while the investigation is ongoing. 

It’s a huge black eye for Cruise cofounder and CEO Kyle Vogt, who has touted the measured rollout that began  early last year  as a means to galvanize support from local residents and city officials. 

“We see San Francisco as a litmus test for the commercialization of robotaxis,” he told Bloomberg TV earlier this month, citing the city’s challenging topography, lower visibility due to heavy fog, and high population density.

Should evidence emerge from Thursday’s crash that prompts the state of California to either suspend or revoke the deployment permits, it could force a change of plans for its ride-hailing ambitions. 

Cruise has already announced plans to enter the Miami, Atlanta, and Nashville markets in addition to Dallas and Houston. Alongside its home market of San Francisco, the company currently operates in the Texan capital of Austin—home to Tesla headquarters—as well as Phoenix.

Politicians in other cities and states are likely to have taken note of the controversial nature of the recent approval. A small panel of just four officials at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted to lift restrictions on Cruise and Waymo robotaxis in the face of opposition from city residents otherwise used to finding themselves the first test subjects for disruptive new technologies . 

CEO Vogt: There are ‘no shortcuts’ to launching self-driving cars

The crash, which injured the Cruise passenger badly enough for them to be sent to the hospital, prompted one elected city official to blast the state’s decision to remove all limits to robotaxis operating in San Francisco. 

“This situation has gotten out of control,” wrote Dean Preston , a member of the city’s board of supervisors who represents the Tenderloin district where the collision occurred. “It’s irresponsible and reckless to allow this experiment to play out on our streets without limitation.”

On Friday, just hours after the collision occurred, the Cruise general manager for the San Francisco market attempted to explain away the incident, blaming extenuating circumstances.

“The AV’s ability to successfully chart the emergency vehicle’s path was complicated by the fact that the emergency vehicle was in the oncoming lane of traffic, which it had moved into to bypass the red light,” said Cruise exec Greg Dieterich  in a post .

While the fire department truck had not been in its lane, that is little excuse. The importance of properly recognizing and responding to the unpredictable approach of first-responder vehicles—which are permitted to breach normal traffic laws when en route to an emergency scene—has been a top concern for the automotive industry and regulators for years now. 

Cruise CEO Vogt, who has called the launch of self-driving cars “one of the ultimate A.I. challenges,” may have his work cut out now that one of his retrofitted Chevrolet Bolts directly interfered with Nicholson’s San Francisco firefighters carrying out their duties.

“Unlike other A.I. products where you can launch a product out there in the public as soon as it’s kind of working, in our case that technology really had to be matured and made robust before we put it out there on the roads,” he told Bloomberg in the Aug. 11 interview. “There are no shortcuts.”

It’s doubtful last week’s crash will change the fire department chief’s staunch opposition to his computer-driven vehicles.

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Cruise’s Driverless Taxi Service in San Francisco Is Suspended

California’s Department of Motor Vehicles cited safety concerns for the suspension, about three months after the state allowed an expansion.

By Yiwen Lu and Cade Metz

Reporting from San Francisco

California regulators on Tuesday ordered Cruise, a General Motors subsidiary, to stop its driverless taxi service in San Francisco after a series of traffic mishaps, including one this month when a Cruise car dragged a pedestrian 20 feet after a crash.

The decision by the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles followed a turbulent three months for Cruise. In early August, over the objections of San Francisco officials, state regulators allowed Cruise to expand its service in the city. But a little more than a week later, the D.M.V. told Cruise to cut its fleet in the city in half.

On Oct. 2, a pedestrian was hit by a car, then was hit a by a Cruise vehicle and trapped under the driverless car. As it tried to pull over, the Cruise car dragged the pedestrian until it stopped. Cruise said its autonomous vehicle had “braked aggressively” and blamed the human driver for the incident.

In an initial meeting with Cruise after the October crash, the D.M.V. said, the company showed footage from the car’s cameras that ended with the driverless vehicle coming to a complete stop after hitting the pedestrian. D.M.V. officials later learned through “discussion with another government agency” that the pedestrian had also been dragged, according to a suspension order sent to Cruise.

In a statement, Cruise said it had shown the agency “the complete video multiple times.”

The suspension is a major setback for Cruise, which started testing its autonomous cars in San Francisco several years ago and introduced a limited driverless taxi service in the city last year.

It is also an unwelcome development for the nascent driverless car industry. Big tech and auto companies have invested billions of dollars in the technology, and the expensive cars have in recent months just started to gain some mainstream acceptance. The California regulators’ decision could increase calls for federal regulators to take a closer look at the technology.

“When there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the D.M.V. can immediately suspend or revoke permits,” the agency said in a statement. It did not say how long the suspension would last.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Cruise said it would pause its driverless operations in San Francisco and was working on enhancements to the cars’ technology. Cruise can still test its autonomous cars in California, but they must have safety drivers who can take over in an emergency.

On a call with financial analysts on Tuesday morning before the state action, Mary T. Barra, G.M.’s chief executive, said the driverless cars had been involved in far fewer collisions than human drivers, but she acknowledged regulatory concerns.

“We do believe that Cruise has tremendous opportunity to grow and expand,” Ms. Barra said. “Safety will be our gating factor as we do that.” She added an assurance that G.M. had plans to support Cruise’s expansion.

Ms. Barra also said G.M. would have more to say about Cruise when it reported its fourth-quarter earnings in three months and at a daylong investor presentation expected to take place in the first half of 2024. Cruise’s expenses were $700 million in the most recent quarter, according to a transcript of the call.

The Cruise cars have drawn considerable criticism from local safety officials, who complained that they were becoming a nuisance, getting in the way of firefighting and other emergency situations. Those complaints have grown louder in recent months as the Cruise vehicles have been involved in several high-profile incidents.

Shortly after another state regulator, the California Public Utilities Commission, allowed the service to expand, at least 10 Cruise vehicles stopped functioning in the middle of a busy street in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, blocking traffic for 15 minutes. A few days later, a Cruise vehicle drove into a city paving project and got stuck in wet concrete.

The day before the D.M.V. announced its investigation of Cruise’s safety record, a fire truck responding to an emergency call collided with a Cruise driverless taxi on Aug. 17, injuring a passenger in the car.

Less than two weeks ago, Cruise said it had released major updates to the software that operates its driverless cars to help them interact with firefighters and other safety officials. Those updates included the ability to manually take over the vehicle. Emergency responders have had to contact Cruise staff to control the cars remotely when they have gotten in way.

On Oct. 16, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into Cruise’s interactions with pedestrians, including the person who was dragged by a Cruise car. In a statement on X, Cruise called the incident an “extremely rare event.”

At a San Francisco County Transportation Authority hearing on Tuesday morning, Aaron Peskin, president of the city’s Board of Supervisors, said the driverless car industry was “not safe and was immune from any governmental regulatory oversight.”

“If there is any vindication of San Francisco’s position, we just got it, whole hog, from the Department of Motor Vehicles today, albeit sadly rather late,” Mr. Peskin said.

As of Tuesday, Cruise had 50 driverless cars running during the day and 150 at night.

Cruise’s main rival, Waymo, will continue to operate its autonomous cars in San Francisco. Waymo, which is owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has avoided high-profile incidents so far. A Waymo spokesperson declined to comment.

Matt Wansley, a professor at the Cardozo School of Law in New York who specializes in emerging automotive technologies, called on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to determine whether Cruise’s service should also be suspended in other states where it is testing the same technology.

“If Cruise’s vehicles are unsafe in California, they should be unsafe in other states as well,” he said in an interview with The New York Times. “There are inconsistent regulations across the country.”

Mr. Wansley said that while regulators and experts could readily point to accidents involving Cruise vehicles that would not have happened if a person had been behind the wheel, that was not the case with Waymo’s cars.

“Companies should be judged by their on-road safety performance, and there is a significant difference between Cruise and Waymo,” he said.

Neal E. Boudette contributed reporting from Michigan.

Yiwen Lu reports on technology for The New York Times. More about Yiwen Lu

Cade Metz is a technology reporter and the author of “Genius Makers: The Mavericks Who Brought A.I. to Google, Facebook, and The World.” He covers artificial intelligence, driverless cars, robotics, virtual reality and other emerging areas. More about Cade Metz

Driverless Cars and the Future of Transportation

Autonomous taxis have arrived in car-obsessed Los Angeles, the nation’s second most populous city. But some Angelenos aren’t ready to go driverless .

Cruise, the embattled self-driving car subsidiary of General Motors,  said that it would eliminate roughly a quarter of its work force , as the company looked to rein in costs after an incident led California regulators to shut down its robot taxi operations.

Tesla, the world’s dominant maker of electric vehicles, recalled more than two million vehicles  to address concerns from U.S. officials about Autopilot , the company’s self-driving software.

An Appetite for Destruction: A wave of lawsuits argue that Tesla’s Autopilot software is dangerously overhyped. What can its blind spots teach us about Elon Musk, the company’s erratic chief executive ?

Along for the Ride: Here’s what New York Times reporters experienced during test rides in driverless cars operated by Tesla , Waymo  and Cruise .

The Future of Transportation?: Driverless cars, once a Silicon Valley fantasy, have become a 24-hour-a-day reality in San Francisco . “The Daily” looked at the unique challenges of coexisting with cars that drive themselves .

Stressing Cities: In San Francisco and Austin, Texas, where passengers can hail autonomous taxis, the vehicles are starting to take a toll on city services , even slowing down emergency response times.

A Fast Rise and Fall: Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, wanted to grow fast. Now, the company faces safety concerns  as it contends with angry regulators, anxious employees and skepticism about the viability of the business .

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Driverless car startup Cruise's no good, terrible year

Cruise rolled out hundreds of its robotaxis in San Francisco this year. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

Cruise rolled out hundreds of its robotaxis in San Francisco this year.

A year ago, the future seemed bright for the driverless car startup Cruise. As 2022 wrapped up, CEO Kyle Vogt took to Twitter to post about the company's autonomous vehicles rolling onto the streets of San Francisco, Austin and Phoenix.

"Folks," he wrote , "we are entering the golden years of AV expansion."

Robotaxis, which give rides to any paying customer with no driver at the wheel, were one of the latest tech products to be fully unleashed to the public this year. Dozens of companies, including Alphabet's Waymo and Amazon's Zoox, have been competing to be king. Cruise, which is owned by General Motors, was one of the fastest growing of those startups.

GM had poured billions into Cruise as the company emphasized scaling up at an unprecedented pace.

"We're on a trajectory that most businesses dream of, which is exponential growth," Vogt said during a July call with investors. He boasted about the size of Cruise's driverless car fleet, adding that "you will see several times this scale within the next six months."

By August, California had given Cruise permission to run around 300 robotaxis throughout San Francisco. (Waymo deploys around 100). And the company had started testing in several more cities across the country, including Dallas, Miami, Nashville and Charlotte.

But then, in October, things took a disastrous turn.

California orders Cruise driverless cars off the roads because of safety concerns

On the night of October 2, one of Cruise's driverless cars struck a pedestrian in San Francisco leaving her critically injured and fighting for her life. Her identity has not been released.

A cascade of events followed that ended with Vogt resigning and GM announcing it was pulling hundreds of millions in funding. Cruise is now facing government investigations , fines that could total millions and an uncertain future.

"They were the bull in a china shop. They just kept charging ahead," says Missy Cummings, a George Mason University professor who runs the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center. "When we sat around and discussed who was going to have the worst accident in that crowd, everyone knew it was going to be Cruise."

Tension was building

Even before the October incident, tension over self-driving cars was simmering in San Francisco.

Both Cruise and Waymo say their driverless cars are safer than human drivers – they don't get drunk, text or fall asleep at the wheel. The companies say they've driven millions of driverless miles without any human fatalities and the roads are safer with their autonomous systems in charge.

But, as robotaxis became increasingly ubiquitous throughout San Francisco, residents complained about near collisions and blunders. Local reports showed footage of confused vehicles clogging a residential cul-de-sac , driving into wet cement at a construction site and regularly running red lights .

Armed with traffic cones, protesters are immobilizing driverless cars

An activist group called Safe Street Rebel has been cataloging the incidents , which now clock in at more than 500. The group figured out that if they put orange traffic cones on the hoods of driverless cars , they would render the vehicles immobile. So, they started going out at night to "cone" as many cars as possible as a form of protest.

"When you start having passive aggressive protests like people putting orange cones on your cars, this isn't going to come out your way," says Cummings.

Protesters demonstrate against driverless cars in front of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in San Francisco in August. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

Protesters demonstrate against driverless cars in front of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in San Francisco in August.

Cruise and Waymo also ran into problems with San Francisco's police and fire departments . At government hearings, the agencies testified that the driverless cars were a nuisance. They tallied nearly 75 incidents where self-driving cars got in the way of rescue operations , including driving through yellow emergency tape, blocking firehouse driveways, running over fire hoses and refusing to move for first responders.

"Our folks cannot be paying attention to an autonomous vehicle when we've got ladders to throw," San Francisco Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson said in an August hearing.

California allows robo-taxis to expand and emergency responders aren't happy

Despite public angst over autonomous vehicles, California state regulators voted to allow the companies to expand their robotaxi services in August. That prompted the city of San Francisco to file motions with the state demanding a halt to the expansion.

Seven days after the vote, a Cruise car collided with a fire truck, injuring a passenger.

A pedestrian incident and an alleged cover-up

After the fire truck collision, the California Department of Motor Vehicles told Cruise to reduce its fleet in half, to 150 cars, while it investigated the incident.

Then, just weeks later, the Cruise car hit the pedestrian. Based on police reports and initial video footage from Cruise, the woman was first struck by a hit-and-run human driver whose vehicle threw her into the path of the driverless car.

Cruise said its car "braked aggressively to minimize the impact." It provided some news outlets with video of the incident, which ended right after the driverless car hit the woman . Cruise also gave footage to the DMV.

Over the next few weeks, Cruise continued to expand – launching driverless robotaxi rides in Houston . Then, in a surprise announcement at the end of October, the DMV ordered Cruise to immediately stop all operations in California.

The DMV says Cruise withheld footage from the night of the incident.

The facts stated in the DMV's order of suspension for Cruise. California Department of Motor Vehicles hide caption

The new video footage showed the Cruise car striking the pedestrian, running her over, and then dragging her an additional 20 feet at 7 miles per hour as it pulls to the curb and stops on top of her.

Philip Koopman, a Carnegie Mellon associate professor and autonomous vehicle safety expert, says most human drivers wouldn't respond this way. "Before you move your car, you're going to find out where the pedestrian is," Koopman says. "The last thing you want to do is be driving over them, but that's exactly what the Cruise vehicle did."

Cruise says it gave regulators the entire video immediately after the incident. But the DMV says it was only after requesting the footage that Cruise handed it over – 10 days later.

It quickly snowballed for Cruise after that. The company recalled and grounded all of its cars nationwide – nearly 1,000 vehicles. It initiated a third-party safety review of its robotaxis and hired an outside law firm to examine its response to the pedestrian incident. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also opened an investigation into Cruise .

Meanwhile, The Intercept reported that Cruise cars had difficulty detecting children , according to internal documents. And The New York Times reported that remote human workers had to intervene to control Cruise's driverless vehicles every 2.5 to five miles.

By mid-November, Vogt was gone. Nearly a dozen other executives stepped down and Cruise announced it was laying off nearly a quarter of its staff.

Ripple effect across the industry

Cruise will continue its work on driverless cars as a commercial product, says spokesperson Navideh Forghani. She added that the company's approach is "with safety as our north star." GM's spokesperson says it remains committed to Cruise "as they refocus on trust, accountability and transparency."

Waymo has avoided much of the public ire that built up over the summer. Its spokesperson told NPR that "safety is our mission and top priority" and that "we treat every event seriously by investigating it to understand what happened."

But Cruise's controversy still affects the self-driving industry overall, says Carnegie Mellon's Koopman.

"The whole industry, with one voice, has been promoting the same talking points as Cruise," Koopman says. "So, if one of them is discredited, it discredits the entire industry because they're all using the same playbook."

A lot of that is the claim of driverless cars being superhuman when it comes to safety, he says.

Both Cruise and Waymo have released studies saying their vehicles are involved in fewer crashes than human drivers. One Waymo study says it has an 85% reduction in injury-causing collisions and a Cruise study says it has a 74% reduction . Neither company has released the raw data of these reports.

Koopman says the safety narrative can unravel when people see the driverless cars on city streets making the same mistakes as human drivers. He says he'd like to see the companies focus on making sure the technology is actually safe.

"To be clear, human drivers will text, they'll be distracted. There's the saying, 'the lights are on, but nobody's home,'" Koopman says. "But it turns out, that happens to robotaxis too."

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Kyle Vogt resignation —

After robotaxi dragged pedestrian 20 feet, cruise founder and ceo resigns, gm-owned cruise "failed to disclose" full video and key crash details, dmv said..

Jon Brodkin - Nov 20, 2023 6:07 pm UTC

The CEO of self-driving car firm Cruise resigned yesterday following an accident in which a Cruise robotaxi dragged a pedestrian 20 feet. California officials accused Cruise of withholding key information and video after the accident, and the company's self-driving operations are on hold while federal authorities investigate.

"Today I resigned from my position as CEO of Cruise," co-founder Kyle Vogt wrote in a post on twitter.com . "The startup I launched in my garage has given over 250,000 driverless rides across several cities, with each ride inspiring people with a small taste of the future," he also wrote.

Cruise is owned by General Motors, which bought the company in 2016. Vogt expressed optimism about Cruise's future without him, saying the team is "executing on a solid, multi-year roadmap and an exciting product vision."

"As for what's next for me, I plan to spend time with my family and explore some new ideas. Thanks for the great ride!" Vogt wrote.

On Saturday, one day before resigning, Vogt reportedly apologized to staff in an email. "As CEO, I take responsibility for the situation Cruise is in today. There are no excuses, and there is no sugar coating what has happened. We need to double down on safety, transparency, and community engagement," he wrote in the email quoted by Reuters .

Robotaxi kept moving after hitting woman

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) last month suspended Cruise's permits for autonomous vehicle deployment and driverless testing. Cruise subsequently announced a "pause" of all of its driverless operations in the US, which includes San Francisco, Austin, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, and Miami. Cruise said the pause affects about 70 vehicles.

The DMV action came three weeks after a Cruise vehicle hit and dragged a pedestrian in San Francisco. A woman entered a crosswalk at nighttime and was hit by two cars, the second of which was the Cruise vehicle. First, a Nissan Sentra "tragically struck and propelled the pedestrian into the path of the AV," Cruise said in a description of the incident .

The Cruise vehicle then moved "rightward before braking aggressively, but still made contact with the pedestrian," the company said. "The AV detected a collision, bringing the vehicle to a stop; then attempted to pull over to avoid causing further road safety issues, pulling the individual forward approximately 20 feet."

The accident happened at 9:29 pm on October 2. The Nissan driver fled the scene, and Cruise said it was sharing information with authorities to help them track down the hit-and-run driver. The woman suffered severe injuries and was reportedly still in "serious condition" at San Francisco General Hospital in late October.

In an order of suspension that was published by Vice , the California DMV said that in a meeting on October 3, "Cruise failed to disclose that the AV executed a pullover maneuver that increased the risk of, and may have caused, further injury to a pedestrian. Cruise's omission hinders the ability of the department to effectively and timely evaluate the safe operation of Cruise's vehicles and puts the safety of the public at risk."

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on October 16 opened an investigation into Cruise vehicles after receiving reports of two pedestrian injuries, including the October 2 incident. The Cruise cars "may not have exercised appropriate caution around pedestrians in the roadway," the agency said. Another Cruise robotaxi hit a fire truck in San Francisco in August.

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International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Headline news, teamsters mourn death of indiana ups feeder driver killed in crash.

The Teamsters Union is mourning the loss of Julie Reid, a UPS feeder driver and member of Teamsters Local 135, who was killed in a fatal crash and vehicle fire this morning.

“Julie was a great union sister and supporter of Local 135. We are shocked and devasted by this loss,” said Dustin Roach, President of Local 135 in Indianapolis. “Our entire union sends our love to her family and friends, and we are ready to support them in this very difficult time.”

The three-vehicle crash occurred early Tuesday morning on I-65 in Scotts County, Indiana, resulting in a fire involving Sister Reid’s truck.

“Our hearts go out to the family, friends, and co-workers of Sister Julie Reid,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “This tragedy is felt by all 1.3 million Teamsters nationwide. We send our deepest condolences to Julie’s loved ones and we join them in mourning her passing.”

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Traffic chaos as truck fire causes closure of sydney’s m2.

Truck fire closes M2 at North Ryde

A truck fire caused traffic chaos on Sydney’s M2 on Wednesday afternoon, shutting all city-bound lanes.

The truck caught fire about 4.50pm on the M2 Motorway near Delhi Rd, North Ryde.

Motorists were advised to avoid the area and use Epping Rd as an alternate route.

All west-bound and city-bound lanes have since been reopened.

Traffic conditions were returning to normal, as of 6.45pm.

Videos taken by passing motorists show the truck engulfed in flames.

Fire and Rescue NSW crews were on site to extinguish the fire.

NSW Police also attended.

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Fire engine slams into stockton home and 2 other vehicles; homeowner was across the street getting coffee.

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Multiple people were hurt after a fire engine slammed into a Stockton home Wednesday morning after a crash involving two other vehicles, police said.

A gas station employee KCRA 3 spoke with said the owner of the home involved in the crash was across the street paying for coffee when the firetruck went into their home.

“We heard all the booms, and then we looked out, and the owner of the house that the fire truck is sitting in, he was at the counter paying for his coffee,” said the worker, Kerrie Hatfield.

The Stockton Police Department said the crash happened at West Lane and Alpine Avenue around 7:05 a.m.

The fire engine was traveling north on West Lane while responding to a fire when it crashed with a red sedan in the middle of an intersection. The sedan had been traveling east on Alpine Avenue.

The engine then went over a median, hit a pickup truck, and ended up in the home.

The drivers of the two vehicles were hospitalized, with the truck driver in critical condition and the other having minor injuries, police said.

Four firefighters in the engine were also hurt, though they are expected to be OK.

Video showed the fire engine well into the home, causing significant damage. The roof of the home appeared to be on top of the engine. The overturned pickup truck was by the fire engine.

KCRA 3 crews on scene Wednesday afternoon saw a red “do not enter” sign posted on the home’s front door. Police said code enforcement was at the home looking at its structural integrity.

The intersection near the crash was reopened by 3 p.m.

Because the crash happened at a busy intersection during the morning commute hours, multiple people witnessed the collision.

“I pulled over, got out, checked on the guy in the red car, and then went and checked on the truck and the guy in the truck was unresponsive,” Patrick Worley said. “Bleeding really badly.”

Worley said he was “shaken up” by what he saw, but said he knew he needed to stop to help.

“I hope somebody would do it for me, you know?” he said. “That’s somebody’s son, somebody’s brother, possibly somebody’s husband going to work. Wrong place, wrong time. I hope he’s okay.”

Video shared with KCRA 3 by a witness shows multiple people running to the scene moments after the crash.

“I heard skidding and a bang,” David Krause, who was nearby, said. “Once I heard the bang I rode down this way, got to the store, and everybody at the store was running that direction.”

Stockton Police said they are still investigating how and why the initial crash between the fire engine and the red car happened.

This story was curated by Hearst's KCRA Alert Desk.

See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app .

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40 facts about elektrostal.

Written by Lanette Mayes

Modified & Updated: 02 Mar 2024

Reviewed by Jessica Corbett

Elektrostal is a vibrant city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia. With a rich history, stunning architecture, and a thriving community, Elektrostal is a city that has much to offer. Whether you are a history buff, nature enthusiast, or simply curious about different cultures, Elektrostal is sure to captivate you.

This article will provide you with 40 fascinating facts about Elektrostal, giving you a better understanding of why this city is worth exploring. From its origins as an industrial hub to its modern-day charm, we will delve into the various aspects that make Elektrostal a unique and must-visit destination.

So, join us as we uncover the hidden treasures of Elektrostal and discover what makes this city a true gem in the heart of Russia.

Key Takeaways:

• Elektrostal, known as the “Motor City of Russia,” is a vibrant and growing city with a rich industrial history, offering diverse cultural experiences and a strong commitment to environmental sustainability.
• With its convenient location near Moscow, Elektrostal provides a picturesque landscape, vibrant nightlife, and a range of recreational activities, making it an ideal destination for residents and visitors alike.

Known as the “Motor City of Russia.”

Elektrostal, a city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia, earned the nickname “Motor City” due to its significant involvement in the automotive industry.

Home to the Elektrostal Metallurgical Plant.

Elektrostal is renowned for its metallurgical plant, which has been producing high-quality steel and alloys since its establishment in 1916.

Boasts a rich industrial heritage.

Elektrostal has a long history of industrial development, contributing to the growth and progress of the region.

Founded in 1916.

The city of Elektrostal was founded in 1916 as a result of the construction of the Elektrostal Metallurgical Plant.

Located approximately 50 kilometers east of Moscow.

Elektrostal is situated in close proximity to the Russian capital, making it easily accessible for both residents and visitors.

Known for its vibrant cultural scene.

Elektrostal is home to several cultural institutions, including museums, theaters, and art galleries that showcase the city’s rich artistic heritage.

A popular destination for nature lovers.

Surrounded by picturesque landscapes and forests, Elektrostal offers ample opportunities for outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, and birdwatching.

Hosts the annual Elektrostal City Day celebrations.

Every year, Elektrostal organizes festive events and activities to celebrate its founding, bringing together residents and visitors in a spirit of unity and joy.

Has a population of approximately 160,000 people.

Elektrostal is home to a diverse and vibrant community of around 160,000 residents, contributing to its dynamic atmosphere.

Boasts excellent education facilities.

The city is known for its well-established educational institutions, providing quality education to students of all ages.

A center for scientific research and innovation.

Elektrostal serves as an important hub for scientific research, particularly in the fields of metallurgy, materials science, and engineering.

Surrounded by picturesque lakes.

The city is blessed with numerous beautiful lakes, offering scenic views and recreational opportunities for locals and visitors alike.

Well-connected transportation system.

Elektrostal benefits from an efficient transportation network, including highways, railways, and public transportation options, ensuring convenient travel within and beyond the city.

Famous for its traditional Russian cuisine.

Food enthusiasts can indulge in authentic Russian dishes at numerous restaurants and cafes scattered throughout Elektrostal.

Home to notable architectural landmarks.

Elektrostal boasts impressive architecture, including the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord and the Elektrostal Palace of Culture.

Offers a wide range of recreational facilities.

Residents and visitors can enjoy various recreational activities, such as sports complexes, swimming pools, and fitness centers, enhancing the overall quality of life.

Provides a high standard of healthcare.

Elektrostal is equipped with modern medical facilities, ensuring residents have access to quality healthcare services.

Home to the Elektrostal History Museum.

The Elektrostal History Museum showcases the city’s fascinating past through exhibitions and displays.

A hub for sports enthusiasts.

Elektrostal is passionate about sports, with numerous stadiums, arenas, and sports clubs offering opportunities for athletes and spectators.

Celebrates diverse cultural festivals.

Throughout the year, Elektrostal hosts a variety of cultural festivals, celebrating different ethnicities, traditions, and art forms.

Electric power played a significant role in its early development.

Elektrostal owes its name and initial growth to the establishment of electric power stations and the utilization of electricity in the industrial sector.

Boasts a thriving economy.

The city’s strong industrial base, coupled with its strategic location near Moscow, has contributed to Elektrostal’s prosperous economic status.

Houses the Elektrostal Drama Theater.

The Elektrostal Drama Theater is a cultural centerpiece, attracting theater enthusiasts from far and wide.

Popular destination for winter sports.

Elektrostal’s proximity to ski resorts and winter sport facilities makes it a favorite destination for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter activities.

Promotes environmental sustainability.

Elektrostal prioritizes environmental protection and sustainability, implementing initiatives to reduce pollution and preserve natural resources.

Home to renowned educational institutions.

Elektrostal is known for its prestigious schools and universities, offering a wide range of academic programs to students.

Committed to cultural preservation.

The city values its cultural heritage and takes active steps to preserve and promote traditional customs, crafts, and arts.

Hosts an annual International Film Festival.

The Elektrostal International Film Festival attracts filmmakers and cinema enthusiasts from around the world, showcasing a diverse range of films.

Encourages entrepreneurship and innovation.

Elektrostal supports aspiring entrepreneurs and fosters a culture of innovation, providing opportunities for startups and business development.

Offers a range of housing options.

Elektrostal provides diverse housing options, including apartments, houses, and residential complexes, catering to different lifestyles and budgets.

Home to notable sports teams.

Elektrostal is proud of its sports legacy, with several successful sports teams competing at regional and national levels.

Boasts a vibrant nightlife scene.

Residents and visitors can enjoy a lively nightlife in Elektrostal, with numerous bars, clubs, and entertainment venues.

Promotes cultural exchange and international relations.

Elektrostal actively engages in international partnerships, cultural exchanges, and diplomatic collaborations to foster global connections.

Surrounded by beautiful nature reserves.

Nearby nature reserves, such as the Barybino Forest and Luchinskoye Lake, offer opportunities for nature enthusiasts to explore and appreciate the region’s biodiversity.

Commemorates historical events.

The city pays tribute to significant historical events through memorials, monuments, and exhibitions, ensuring the preservation of collective memory.

Promotes sports and youth development.

Elektrostal invests in sports infrastructure and programs to encourage youth participation, health, and physical fitness.

Hosts annual cultural and artistic festivals.

Throughout the year, Elektrostal celebrates its cultural diversity through festivals dedicated to music, dance, art, and theater.

Provides a picturesque landscape for photography enthusiasts.

The city’s scenic beauty, architectural landmarks, and natural surroundings make it a paradise for photographers.

Connects to Moscow via a direct train line.

The convenient train connection between Elektrostal and Moscow makes commuting between the two cities effortless.

A city with a bright future.

Elektrostal continues to grow and develop, aiming to become a model city in terms of infrastructure, sustainability, and quality of life for its residents.

In conclusion, Elektrostal is a fascinating city with a rich history and a vibrant present. From its origins as a center of steel production to its modern-day status as a hub for education and industry, Elektrostal has plenty to offer both residents and visitors. With its beautiful parks, cultural attractions, and proximity to Moscow, there is no shortage of things to see and do in this dynamic city. Whether you’re interested in exploring its historical landmarks, enjoying outdoor activities, or immersing yourself in the local culture, Elektrostal has something for everyone. So, next time you find yourself in the Moscow region, don’t miss the opportunity to discover the hidden gems of Elektrostal.

Q: What is the population of Elektrostal?

A: As of the latest data, the population of Elektrostal is approximately XXXX.

Q: How far is Elektrostal from Moscow?

A: Elektrostal is located approximately XX kilometers away from Moscow.

Q: Are there any famous landmarks in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal is home to several notable landmarks, including XXXX and XXXX.

Q: What industries are prominent in Elektrostal?

A: Elektrostal is known for its steel production industry and is also a center for engineering and manufacturing.

Q: Are there any universities or educational institutions in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal is home to XXXX University and several other educational institutions.

Q: What are some popular outdoor activities in Elektrostal?

A: Elektrostal offers several outdoor activities, such as hiking, cycling, and picnicking in its beautiful parks.

Q: Is Elektrostal well-connected in terms of transportation?

A: Yes, Elektrostal has good transportation links, including trains and buses, making it easily accessible from nearby cities.

Q: Are there any annual events or festivals in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal hosts various events and festivals throughout the year, including XXXX and XXXX.

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Kamaz FTL hauler registers NatCar brand

MOSCOW. Sept 4 (Interfax) - National Carrier JSC, the full truckload freight trucking company headed by former Globaltruck CEO Ilya Sattarov that Russian truck maker Kamaz founded this summer, applied to register the brand NatCar at the end of August, the registry of federal intellectual property service Rospatent showed.

The NatCar brand is also mentioned in the recruitment ads of National Carrier, which is actively looking for E-class drivers. It is offering working with this year's model Kamaz diesel trucks from the flagship K5 line and new dry goods (curtainsider) and refrigerated trailers.

National Carrier was founded on July 7 in Moscow with charter capital of 1 billion rubles, the Unified State Register of Legal Entities showed. The company registered two branches in early August, in Yekaterinburg and Elektrostal, Moscow Region. The company specializes in truck logistics and associated activities, including digitization processes.

A spokesman for National Carrier told Interfax earlier that the company plans to provide FTL trucking services using its own fleet, "as well as the resources of hired truckers." The company's fleet will initially consist of 400 semi-trailer trucks with a 50/50 ratio of curtainside to refrigerated trailers, and it plans to primarily operate on domestic routes, he said.

The company has preliminary agreements with major customers among marketplaces and retailers in the FMCG and DIY segments, the spokesman said. Strong demand for trucking services is expected toward the end of the year, so there is interest from customers, he said.

Kamaz marketing director Ashot Arutyunyan announced at the International Moscow Automotive Forum at the end of August that the truck maker was the principal investor in National Carrier. He did not comment on the new company's shareholder structure, but said it is a Kamaz startup.

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