Self-driving automobile runs over, pins woman in San Francisco; operator claims human hit her first

     First responders arrived at 5th and Market St Road shortly after 9:30 p.m. and observed a woman trapped under the left rear axle of a stationary self-driving Cruise car, as reported by San Francisco Fire Captain Justin Shore to FOX KTVU on the scene.

"Rescuers were unable to locate any drivers or passengers to inquire about the nature of the injuries or how the victim came to be under the car," Shore said.

Officials provided assistance to the woman, and medics rushed her to a clinic for life-threatening injuries, according to Officer Robert Rueca, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department.

Authorities stated that the self-driving car remained at the scene, and there was no driver inside the vehicle at the time of the collision. It remains uncertain how long the woman had been trapped under the self-driving car.

"Once again, in this particular situation, we had no driver, passengers, or witnesses on the sidewalk to inform us how long she had been under the vehicle," Shore said.

Cruise, the company behind the autonomous vehicle, issued a statement on social media early Tuesday, providing an account of what happened. The company operating the self-driving car stated that the incident began with a hit-and-run involving a human driver.

"At approximately 9:30 pm on October 2, a human-driven vehicle struck a pedestrian while traveling in the lane immediately to the left of a Cruise AV," the statement read. "The initial impact was severe and propelled the pedestrian directly in front of the AV."

The driverless Cruise vehicle then applied the brakes "aggressively" to reduce the impact, as claimed by the company. Cruise stated that the driver of the other vehicle fled the scene, while the driverless car remained on-site at the request of authorities.

"Our primary concern is the well-being of the injured individual, and we are actively cooperating with the police to help identify the responsible driver," the company stated.

The San Francisco Police Department's Traffic Division is leading the investigation.