General Motors’ electric car division (GM Cruise) announced that it has obtained permission to charge consumers for the use of self-driving cars in San Francisco, United States.
Self-driving cars without drivers are a common sight in San Francisco. The concept of mobility as such is considered practical and has the potential to become a new business field in big cities, namely driverless taxis. The cars were previously free to use because they were still in the trial phase.
Reuters reported on Friday (3/6), after obtaining permission from local authorities, GM will launch a paid service on 30 Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles that operate without a driver.
Clifford Rechtschaffen, California’s Commissioner of Public Utilities, approved the license to operate the fleet on the condition that it “takes a cautious stepwise approach” to regulating autonomous vehicles.
“The resolution marks another important step in that effort,” he said. “This will enable our staff to continue to collect critically important data that will support development in future phases.”
Cars without drivers cannot go haphazardly, but are limited to certain areas with a maximum speed of 48 km/hour.
The fleet is prohibited from operating from 10 pm to 6 am, and is not allowed to run during heavy fog and heavy rain.
The local community, especially business people and people with disabilities, expressed their support for the operation of the car.
However, there is still a lot of homework for GM and local authorities to ensure the operation of the car will not disturb or endanger the surrounding community.
Previously, the Cruise AV car had stopped carelessly and blocked a passing fire engine from handling three fire cases.
In another case, the car was stopped by the police, but when the officers noted something, the car immediately drove away and left the policeman.
