On Monday, Cruise, GM’s self-driving vehicle division, was fined $1.5 million by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for omitting key details from an October 2023 accident where one of their autonomous vehicles struck and dragged a San Francisco pedestrian. The penalty was imposed because Cruise initially submitted incomplete reports that failed to disclose that the pedestrian was dragged by the vehicle for 20 feet at around 7 MPH, causing severe injuries. Eventually, a 100-page report from a law firm revealed that Cruise executives knew about the dragging but failed to mention it during initial meetings, instead playing a video of the accident with the critical detail concealed due to internet connectivity issues. The NHTSA also found that Cruise had amended four other incomplete crash reports and imposed new requirements on the company, including submitting a corrective action plan and meeting quarterly to discuss operations and compliance. Despite the fine and ongoing investigations by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, Cruise is attempting to rebound under new leadership, resuming operations in Arizona, Houston, and California with drivers while GM invests an additional $850 million in the division.
