Cruise, the autonomous taxi service backed by General Motors, recently ran a provocative full-page advertisement in the New York Times and various local papers. The ad featured a striking headline, “Humans are terrible drivers,” and highlighted that 42,795 Americans lost their lives in car crashes last year. It also claimed that its self-driving cars experienced 92% fewer collisions, suggesting their superiority over human drivers.
This ad sparked significant backlash from Joan Claybrook, former head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), who criticized the use of tragic statistics for promotional purposes. Claybrook, now a safety advocate, described it as “unscrupulous” to exploit the suffering of individuals for marketing a product still considered unproven and potentially unsafe. Her criticism underscores ongoing concerns about the real-world safety and reliability of autonomous vehicles, particularly in San Francisco, where local officials have reported numerous incidents involving these self-driving taxis.
Claybrook’s remarks are bolstered by local frustrations with Cruise’s robotaxis, which have reportedly caused disruptions, including blocking streets and interfering with emergency services. Despite claims of fewer collisions from Cruise’s first million driverless miles, residents have observed these vehicles encountering issues in traffic, such as getting stuck in intersections or stopping unnecessarily. This highlights a broader debate on the readiness of autonomous vehicles for widespread adoption and the ethical implications of their promotion.