General Motors’ self-driving subsidiary, Cruise, has reported recalling and updating the software powering 80 self-driving cars. This came after a San Francisco crash in June that injured two people, despite the company reaching the 10-million-mile milestone.
According to federal regulators, the problem was that the software might erroneously predict an oncoming vehicle’s path. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the assist system could “in certain circumstances, when making an unprotected left, cause the (autonomous driving system) to incorrectly predict another vehicle’s path or be insufficiently reactive to the sudden path change of a road user.”
In its own explanation, Cruise said its system has to “decide between two different risk scenarios and chose the one with the least potential for a serious collision at the time, before the oncoming vehicle’s sudden change of direction.”
However, Cruise has assured the software update handles the rare occurrence.
The NHTSA has recently paid more attention to driver assistance and driverless cars. All companies in the industries must now report every crash.
As a temporary measure, Cruise prevented its vehicles from making left turns. It also reduced the operating areas of the vehicles. The company has gradually returned left turns.
Cruise said the update would reach all vehicles.
Meanwhile, operating Cruise remains a financial drain on GM as it loses $5 million daily.
Source: Reuters
