On Monday, federal officials said Cruise had to pay a $1.5 million fine for not giving enough information in reports about an accident almost a year ago in which one of the company’s self-driving cars pinned and dragged a woman nearly 20 feet at an intersection in San Francisco.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s consent order from September 26 says that the General Motors subsidiary needs to submit a corrective action plan. This plan needs to include summaries of any software updates made to the company’s automatic driving system as well as reports on any tickets or traffic violations that were seen.
In addition to the number of miles driven and whether or not the cars have a driver, federal regulators told Cruise to include the number of vehicles that are in use in its reports.
The chief safety officer for Cruise, Steve Kenner, said in a statement, “our agreement with NHTSA is a step forward in a new chapter for Cruise. It builds on our progress under new leadership, better processes and culture, and a firm commitment to greater transparency with our regulators.”
“We look forward to working closely with NHTSA as our operations move forward,” Kenner said. “Our goal is the same: to make the roads safer for everyone.”
Someone drove their car into a woman on October 3, 2023, at the corner of Fifth and Market streets. Then she got in the way of a Cruise car, which held her down and pulled her for about 20 feet. The car stopped first and then pulled her. The woman spent months in the hospital and is said to have settled with Cruise for up to $12 million.
Federal officials say that Cruise’s one-day and ten-day reports to the NHTSA did not say that the robotaxi pulled the woman after it stopped. Cruise didn’t tell federal officials the whole story of what happened a month earlier until a report on November 2.
Authorities wrote in Monday’s order that Cruise knew about the car’s actions after the crash, including dragging the pedestrian, when they made the required one-day and ten-day reports, but they left out that important information.
A judge on the California Public Utilities Commission who accepted a settlement between the state and Cruise in July said that the company didn’t give California regulators a full account of what happened in the crash until Oct. 18, 16 days after it happened.
Soon after the crash, the CPUC made it possible for Cruise and Waymo to charge for rides without any limits. This set off a series of events that caused Cruise to remove its robotaxi fleet from roads across the country.
For two years, Cruise will have to report to NHTSA officials. However, federal regulators can choose to make the order last for a third year. Federal regulators and company workers will also meet every three months to talk about Cruise’s operations and the company’s progress under the order.
On June 28, 2026, or 90 days before the order’s base term ends, cruise officials must also send a final report describing how they are following the order and how their business is going.
Sophie Shulman, deputy administrator of the NHTSA, said in a statement, “it is very important for companies developing automated driving systems to put safety and openness first from the start.”
Shulman said, “NHTSA is using its enforcement power to make sure operators and manufacturers follow all the law and work to protect all road users.”
The company that makes self-driving cars said almost two weeks ago that it would test up to five cars with human drivers on the roads in Mountain View and Sunnyvale this fall. Officials from the company said that the move was a step toward getting business going again in the Bay Area.
