4 ms·

After robotaxi dragged pedestrian 20 feet, Cruise founder and CEO resigns

29 points by isaacfrond 3y ago

ryankrage77 3y ago
> "[...] Thanks for the great ride!" Vogt wrote. Not the best phrase to use in response to this scenario...
- FFP999 3y ago
  HOLY GOD. Worst possible wording.
xnzakg 3y ago
Honestly this sounds like a really bad edge case. Seems like they had the emergency stopping figured out, just didn't think about the possibility of a pedestrian ending up in a dangerous location afterwards...
- ehnto 3y ago
  That's not an edge case I feel, that's negligent if they hadn't considered that. We have a century of prior experience in car accidents, and tomes of regulations guiding car design that account for the myriad ways humans can be struck and hurt in a car accident.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  I think the scandalous part isn't the accident, it's that Cruise actively tried to cover a critical aspect of it up, which impeded the investigation.
- oldgradstudent 3y ago
  If it appears in the California Driver Handbook, it's not an edge case. > Move your vehicle out of traffic if no one is hurt. Then call 911. They did neither.
brtkdotse 3y ago
I never fully understood why CEO:s resign when there's a scandal. Like, stay on and clean up the mess you made instead of bailing with a golden parachute?
- sigmoid10 3y ago
  He's probably just leaving before they can kick him out. If the article is true, he withheld key information on the accident from the DMV. The board of directors would probably have to fire him anyways, so he just saved himself from an even worse headline and a bad remark on his CV.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  One of the jobs a CEO may be called on to perform is to take the hit to protect the company.
- jstarfish 3y ago
  > I never fully understood why CEO:s resign when there's a scandal. Like, stay on and clean up the mess you made instead of bailing with a golden parachute? There's no point in trusting them to clean up the mess when their job was to foster a culture of preventing it in the first place. They failed at leadership itself. No point in having a golden parachute either if you never get put in the position of invoking it.
hedora 3y ago
Misleading headline. Someone might be going to jail for obstruction: > California officials accused Cruise of withholding key information and video after the accident, and the company's self-driving operations are on hold while federal authorities investigate.
greenyoda 3y ago
Big discussion earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38341466 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38341466

29 points by isaacfrond 3y ago

ryankrage77 3y ago

> "[...] Thanks for the great ride!" Vogt wrote. Not the best phrase to use in response to this scenario...

FFP999 3y ago
HOLY GOD. Worst possible wording.

xnzakg 3y ago

Honestly this sounds like a really bad edge case. Seems like they had the emergency stopping figured out, just didn't think about the possibility of a pedestrian ending up in a dangerous location afterwards...

ehnto 3y ago
That's not an edge case I feel, that's negligent if they hadn't considered that. We have a century of prior experience in car accidents, and tomes of regulations guiding car design that account for the myriad ways humans can be struck and hurt in a car accident.
JohnFen 3y ago
I think the scandalous part isn't the accident, it's that Cruise actively tried to cover a critical aspect of it up, which impeded the investigation.
oldgradstudent 3y ago
If it appears in the California Driver Handbook, it's not an edge case. > Move your vehicle out of traffic if no one is hurt. Then call 911. They did neither.

brtkdotse 3y ago

I never fully understood why CEO:s resign when there's a scandal. Like, stay on and clean up the mess you made instead of bailing with a golden parachute?

sigmoid10 3y ago
He's probably just leaving before they can kick him out. If the article is true, he withheld key information on the accident from the DMV. The board of directors would probably have to fire him anyways, so he just saved himself from an even worse headline and a bad remark on his CV.
JohnFen 3y ago
One of the jobs a CEO may be called on to perform is to take the hit to protect the company.
jstarfish 3y ago
> I never fully understood why CEO:s resign when there's a scandal. Like, stay on and clean up the mess you made instead of bailing with a golden parachute? There's no point in trusting them to clean up the mess when their job was to foster a culture of preventing it in the first place. They failed at leadership itself. No point in having a golden parachute either if you never get put in the position of invoking it.

hedora 3y ago

Misleading headline. Someone might be going to jail for obstruction: > California officials accused Cruise of withholding key information and video after the accident, and the company's self-driving operations are on hold while federal authorities investigate.

greenyoda 3y ago

Big discussion earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38341466 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38341466