The driverless car company Cruise LLC has appeared at a California Public Utilities Commission hearing and valiantly attempted to extricate itself from a mess of its own making. 

As widely reported, on Oct. 2, 2023 at 9:29 p.m., a driverless Cruise vehicle with the name “Panini” was proceeding along near the intersection of Fifth and Market streets in San Francisco when a car operated by a human driver hit a pedestrian and flung the person directly into Panini’s path. The Cruise vehicle then hit the pedestrian and, with the victim under the car, executed a “pullover maneuver,” designed to get the vehicle to a safe location. In the process, Panini dragged the already-injured person 20 feet at a speed of 7.7 mph. 

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Joe Dworetzky is a second career journalist. He practiced law in Philadelphia for more than 35 years, representing private and governmental clients in commercial litigation and insolvency proceedings. Joe served as City Solicitor for the City of Philadelphia under Mayor Ed Rendell and from 2009 to 2013 was one of five members of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission with responsibility for managing the city’s 250 public schools. He moved to San Francisco in 2011 and began writing fiction and pursuing a lifelong interest in editorial cartooning. Joe earned a Master’s in Journalism from Stanford University in 2020. He covers Legal Affairs and writes long form Investigative stories. His occasional cartooning can be seen in Bay Area Sketchbook. Joe encourages readers to email him story ideas and leads at joe.dworetzky@baycitynews.com.