The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Wednesday that it has closed its one-year-old probe into General Motors Co.’s GM Cruise robotaxis in light of the company ceasing business operations.
What Happened: The NHTSA commenced a probe into Cruise robotaxis in October 2023 to gauge whether they are exercising caution around pedestrians following reports of two crashes. The regulator said it is aware of five incidents involving a collision between a Cruise vehicle and a pedestrian, three of which caused an injury. The cars were unable to avoid a collision despite attempting to in all five cases, it said.
After the start of the investigation, Cruise in Nov. 2023 issued a recall for a defect in its Automated Driving System (ADS) that affected 950 vehicles.
The regulator, on Wednesday, closed the probe in light of the recall action taken by Cruise. The company has also since stopped business operations and no versions of its automated driving system are operating on public roads, the regulator noted.
Why It Matters: In December, GM said it would no longer fund Cruise‘s robotaxi development but instead combine the majority-owned unit into its technical teams.
The robotaxi development work needs considerable time and resources to scale, GM reasoned, while adding that the robotaxi market is getting increasingly competitive.
Cruise was a major robotaxi player in the U.S. in the leagues of Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo until Oct. 2023 when a Cruise robotaxi got involved in an accident in San Francisco. The accident led to increased regulatory scrutiny and the company subsequently suspended all of its operations in the U.S.
In July, the company also said it is abandoning its plans to build the Origin autonomous vehicle and focussing on using its next-generation Chevrolet Bolt for autonomous driving operations, citing costs and the "regulatory uncertainty" around the Origin pedal-less vehicle.
Hopes re-emerged briefly when Barra said in October that Cruise is looking to return to operating driverless vehicles by the end of the year but the company ceased operations in December.
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