---
title: "Videos of GM’s Driverless Cars Show Several Near-Crashes"
description: "Video footage of GM's driverless cars shows some troubling behavior as well as multiple near-accidents on public streets."
date: "2020-10-21"
modified: "2020-10-21"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/videos-gm-driverless-cars-crashes"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
tags:
  - "advanced transport"
  - "Autonomous vehicles"
  - "cruise"
  - "gm"
  - "the digest"
---

# Videos of GM’s Driverless Cars Show Several Near-Crashes

![Video footage of GM's driverless cars shows some troubling behavior as well as multiple near-accidents on public streets.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/videos-gm-driverless-cars-crashes-1.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Cruise\</em\>*

## I'm Walkin' Here!

Last week, the California DMV gave General Motors permission to [test its Cruise fully-driverless cars](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/ca-general-motors-fully-driverless-cars>) on the streets of San Francisco.

But based on footage of the cars in action that Cruise itself uploaded to YouTube, the vehicles may not be ready. As [*Jalopnik* reports](<https://jalopnik.com/watching-unlisted-driving-videos-from-gms-cruise-autono-1845428501>), the videos mostly show driverless cars following the rules of the road. But there are numerous troubling moments where the cars drive erratically or nearly cause accidents, calling into question just how safe it will be to [leave them unsupervised](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-beta-full-self-driving>).

## Highlight Reel

To be clear, the video footage is about 10 months old and most of it shows perfectly fine driving. But, as *Jalopnik* argues, it doesn't matter if a driverless car does its job 95 percent of the time when you're the person in front of it for the other five.

Some of the problem moments are minor, like [this clip](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwM6uz9rNQo>) of a car needlessly veering left and right to avoid cars parked on the side of the street. Others are more unsettling, like [this footage](<https://youtu.be/bjTGEHYO-5s?t=530>) of a car creeping up behind a family of cyclists and refusing to safely pass them.

## Blind Spot

The real issue, though, is a number of near-accidents that *Jalopnik* identified in the footage, including several that show the car accelerating toward other vehicles. In a period of about 30 seconds, one of the driverless cars almost causes three accidents at intersections with a scooter, an SUV, and then a sedan.

Since these videos are a bit dated, it's possible these issues have been fixed. But it's still an uncomfortable level of uncertainty to have surrounding the new technology.

https://youtu.be/bjTGEHYO-5s?t=646

**READ MORE:** [Watching Unlisted Driving VidCeos From GM's Cruise Autonomous Cars Reveals Some Alarming Behavior](<https://jalopnik.com/watching-unlisted-driving-videos-from-gms-cruise-autono-1845428501>) \[*Jalopnik*\]

**More on self-driving cars:** *[CA Says General Motors Can Test Fully Driverless Cars On Its Roads](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/ca-general-motors-fully-driverless-cars>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)