GM’s Self-driving Cruise Unit to Pay $112,500 for Delaying Crash Report

Reuters

14:07 JST, June 22, 2024

A California regulator said on Thursday it is imposing the maximum penalty of $112,500 on General Motors’ self-driving Cruise GM.N unit for the company’s failure to promptly provide complete information to the commission about a seriouscrash involving one of its robotaxis last year.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

Cruise along with other self-driving vehicle companies like Alphabet’s Waymo GOOGL.O and Amazon’s Zoox AMZN.O have come under heavy scrutiny from regulators arising out of safety concerns due to multiple crashes involving their vehicles.

BY THE NUMBERS

Cruise will pay the maximum penalty allowable by the California Public Utilities Commission, totaling $112,500, which is $7,500 for each of the 15 days during which Cruise withheld information about the incident, the regulator said.

Cruise will also provide “collision reports” to the CPUC and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for collisions occurring in California.

WHAT CRUISE SAYS

“We are gratified to have reached a settlement with the CPUC. Over the past several months, we have taken important steps to improve our leadership, processes and culture,” Cruise said.

CONTEXT

The decision by the California commission comes a few months after Cruise raised its offer to the maximum seeking to resolve the investigation.

On Oct. 2, a pedestrian hit by another vehicle was thrown into the path of a self-driving Cruise vehicle and dragged 20 feet. A person familiar with the matter said the woman suffered serious injuries, but was expected to survive.

Cruise’s permit to operate in California was suspended and the NHTSA issued a recall of its vehicles after the incident.

Cruise had resumed operations in the U.S. with a small fleet of human-driven vehicles in Phoenix, Arizona in April, but Cruise’s authority to provide passenger service in its autonomous vehicles in California remains suspended.