Cruise Fined $1.5 Million For Hiding Information About California Crash

GM’s Cruise autonomous driving unit will pay a $1.5 million fine to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) after withholding important information about an accident involving one of its self-driving prototypes last year.

In October 2023, a Cruise vehicle operating in San Francisco struck a woman who had been pushed into its path by another vehicle. The driverless vehicle initially stopped but then started moving and dragged the woman 20 feet. Although Cruise disclosed the crash to the NHTSA as required by law, employees tried to convince authorities not to open an investigation and didn’t disclose the woman had been dragged by the vehicle until one month after the accident.

Read: NHTSA Closes Investigation After Cruise Recalls 1,194 Robotaxis

Cruise commissioned a report from law firm Quinn Emanuel into the incident, which concluded it didn’t intend to mislead regulators but noted executives made it difficult for officials to quickly understand the severity of the accident. It was also revealed Cruise’s then-chief executive Kyle Vogt and chief operating officer Gil West disbanded the firm’s response team less than 24 hours after the accident and failed to gather “key information” from witnesses at the scene, Reuters reports.

A report into the crash also found that Vogt only wanted to share a four-second clip of the accident with authorities.

In addition to being fined $1.5 million, Cruise needs to submit a corrective action plan to the NHTSA on how it will improve its compliance with the reporting of serious incidents. It will also face enhanced reporting requirements for at least two years.

While speaking about the agreement with the NHTSA, Cruise chief safety officer Steve Kenner said it “is a step forward in a new chapter for Cruise, building on our progress under new leadership, improved processes and culture, and a firm commitment to greater transparency with our regulators.”