Cruise Autonomous Car Blocked Fire Truck Responding to Emergency

On an April morning around 4 a.m., a San Francisco Fire Department truck responding to a fire emergency was blocked by a double-parked garbage truck. As the fire truck attempted to pass using the opposing lane, a Cruise autonomous vehicle traveling in the opposite direction stopped next to the garbage truck, completely blocking the road for approximately 25 seconds. The Cruise AV behaved as designed by yielding to the oncoming fire truck and contacting the company's remote assistance workers, but unlike a human driver, it could not simply back up to clear the path. The blockage was only cleared when the garbage truck driver ran from their work to move their vehicle. This incident slowed the fire department's response to a fire that resulted in property damage and personal injuries. The report also mentions additional incidents involving Cruise vehicles, including one where a Cruise AV ran over a fire hose in use at an active fire scene in June 2022, and another in January 2023 where firefighters had to shatter the front window of a Cruise AV to prevent it from driving over fire hoses. San Francisco officials have documented at least 39 interference incidents with emergency responders in 2023, including robotaxis stopping in front of firehouses, blocking emergency vehicles, and driving into active emergency scenes.