Approximately a year after a Cruise robotaxi incident involving a woman being dragged in San Francisco, the company managed to avoid a criminal charge by admitting to misleading federal regulators about the event.
Authorities accused Cruise of obstructing an investigation into the incident by failing to provide a description or video of the dragging during a meeting with federal transportation officials the day after the crash. Moreover, the report submitted later on also omitted details of the dragging incident.
As part of the resolution, the General Motors-owned company has agreed to pay a $500,000 fine and acknowledge the criminal charges outlined by the U.S. Justice Department. Cruise is mandated to collaborate with government investigations, enforce a safety compliance program, and submit annual progress reports.
This deferred prosecution agreement follows a $1.5 million fine imposed on Cruise by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about six weeks prior.
The event leading to the regulatory and criminal investigations transpired in October 2023, when a woman was dragged after being thrown in front of a Cruise vehicle on Market Street in downtown San Francisco. Despite the robotaxi coming to a stop, its sensor system failed to detect the person beneath it, resulting in the woman being dragged over 20 feet as the vehicle stopped at the side of the road.
In accordance with federal regulations, Cruise was obligated to report such incidents to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Although Cruise later provided the video footage to NHTSA officials, the company did not promptly rectify the incident report.
“Federal laws and regulations are designed to ensure public safety on our roads,” stated Martha Boersch, the U.S. Attorney’s Criminal Division chief, in a news release on Thursday. “Companies operating self-driving vehicles that share our roads and crosswalks must be completely honest in their communications with regulators.”
The dragging occurrence disrupted Cruise’s expansion efforts and resulted in the withdrawal of its once-prominent fleet of robotaxis from streets across the country.
Subsequent to the incident, federal and state authorities initiated investigations into the company’s compliance with disclosure requirements. In June, a California Public Utilities Commission judge approved a separate $112,500 settlement to conclude the agency’s investigation into the dragging incident.
Following the crash, several key executives, including founder and CEO Kyle Vogt, either resigned or were dismissed, and Cruise downsized by cutting hundreds of jobs.
In September, Cruise revealed plans to reintroduce mapping vehicles in Sunnyvale and Mountain View in the Bay Area, with each car having a driver present behind the wheel.
