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Cruise hit with fine and new compliance rules after hiding robotaxi crash details

The self-driving unit of General Motors, Cruise, has admitted that, it had filed a false report regarding an October 2023 crash of one of its autonomous vehicles. Reuters reported that the company will receive a $500,000 fine and be covered under a deferred prosecution agreement with the US government.

The incident happened in San Francisco, in which one of Cruise's robotaxis ran over a woman who had already been hit by a car. Sadly, the woman was dragged 20 feet by the robotaxi before it stopped. Cruise failed to include this fact in the report which he sent to NHTSA, requesting further investigation.

According to the Justice Department, "Companies with self-driving cars must be fully truthful in their reports to regulators." Cruise will now pay the fine and cooperate with government investigations. The company also agreed to implement a safety compliance program and submit annual reports for the next three years. If Cruise fails to comply, the government can proceed with charges.

This restructuring takes place after the extreme overhaul of the company. After the crash and after a probe, Cruise's chief executive officer and co-founder quit and the company had to send packing 25% of its workforce. Nine executives, including chief operating officer and chief legal officer, were said to be sent packing.

Since then, it has agreed to a fine worth $1.5 million to settle another probe by the NHTSA. The settlement, in this case, requires Cruise to submit a plan of corrective action towards improving its compliance and reporting under much more stringent reporting requirements for at least two years.

Nevertheless, the company is continuing with controlled demonstrations of supervised self-driving in three US cities. Next year it will also venture into autonomous rides in partnership with Uber.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is still looking into whether Cruise is adequately taking precautions with its autonomously driven robotaxis concerning pedestrian safety. In August, the company had to recall 1,200 robotaxis because of problems with hard braking, a concern that has been consistent in self-driving tech.