The CEO of the robotaxi company Cruise, Kyle Vogt, has resigned amid investigations into an accident involving a pedestrian in San Francisco. In a statement on the online platform X, Vogt announced in the early hours of Monday that he would now focus more on his family and pursue new ideas. The accident not only had tragic consequences but also brought criticism to the information policy of Cruise management. The company is a subsidiary of automotive giant General Motors.

In early October, a woman was hit by a driverless Cruise car in an accident and dragged several meters. Previously, she was hit by another vehicle driven by a human driver and then thrown in front of the self-driving car. Although the robotaxi immediately braked, the pedestrian was still trapped under the vehicle.

According to the accident report, the vehicle was programmed to automatically drive to the side of the road after collisions in order to not obstruct traffic. In this case as well, the software suggested this measure - despite the woman being trapped. She was dragged for about six meters underneath the car and the vehicle reached a speed of approximately eleven kilometers per hour.

To prevent similar incidents, Cruise has since adjusted the software for its approximately 950 vehicles and temporarily suspended all testing on public roads in the USA. However, criticism has been expressed regarding the alleged incomplete disclosure of the incident. The traffic authority criticized that initially only the first part of the accident was made public, but not the fact that the robotaxi had still tried to drive to the side of the road after the accident while the woman was trapped under the vehicle.

San Francisco served as a unique test case for autonomous taxis last year. In addition to Cruise, Google's sister company Waymo also received permission from a California regulatory agency in the summer to expand its driverless transportation service throughout the city.

The city administration and numerous residents, however, had spoken out against this decision, arguing that the vehicles frequently blocked traffic. Despite this criticism, Waymo is still allowed to offer its autonomous driving robotaxi service throughout San Francisco.

Overall, the integration of autonomous vehicles into everyday life is proving to be much more time-consuming than was predicted a few years ago. While the technology already works flawlessly under simple conditions, insiders now doubt whether the software can be sufficiently trained for all unexpected situations.

At the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), General Motors' stock temporarily traded at $28.25, marking an increase of 0.78 percent.