General Motors’ GM autonomous driving unit Cruise has agreed to a payment of $500,000 in criminal fines for providing a false record to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regarding a crash in San Francisco involving one of its autonomous vehicles, the Justice Department said on Thursday.
What Happened: Cruise omitted key details of the accident that occurred in San Francisco on Oct. 2, 2023, in its report to the NHTSA, where a robotaxi ran over a pedestrian who was hit by another vehicle and dragged the woman over 20 feet, the department said.
Cruise admitted to the allegation and agreed to pay the fine, it added.
"Federal laws and regulations are in place to protect public safety on our roads. Companies with self-driving cars that seek to share our roads and crosswalks must be fully truthful in their reports to their regulators," Martha Boersch, Chief of the Office of the U.S. Attorney's Criminal Division, said in a statement.
Cruise has also agreed to cooperate with government investigations, implement a Safety Compliance Program, and provide annual reports to the U.S. Attorney's Office for three years, failing which it faces prosecution.
Why It Matters: Cruise suspended all of its operations in the U.S. late last year following the accident in San Francisco, leading to heightened regulatory scrutiny and the exit of its co-founder and then CEO Kyle Vogt.
The company resumed manual driving in the city of Phoenix to gather road information earlier this year in April and in Houston and Dallas, Texas in June.
Cruise is now looking to return to operating driverless vehicles by the end of the year, GM CEO Mary Barra said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call last month.
Cruise’s Financials: Cruise posted an operating loss of $417 million in the three months through the end of September, lower than the $807 million loss recorded in the corresponding period of last year. GM has spent $583 million on restructuring Cruise this year.
In July, the company also said that it is abandoning its plans to build the Origin autonomous vehicle with no pedals and instead focussing on using its next-generation Chevrolet Bolt for autonomous driving operations.
"This addresses the regulatory uncertainty we faced with the Origin because of its unique design. In addition, per-unit costs will be much lower, which will help Cruise optimize its resources,” Barra said about the decision then.
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Photo courtesy: GM
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