US auto safety regulator closes probe into GM’s Cruise robotaxis
8:04 am Thursday, August 22nd, 2024
(Reuters) – The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Thursday it was closing a probe into 1,194 robotaxis operated by General Motors’ Cruise unit after a recall resolved issues related to hard braking and immobilization with the self-driving vehicles.
The regulator also said none of the immobilization incidents it analyzed had resulted in a crash or injuries.
Cruise filed a recall for its software earlier this month affecting all its vehicles equipped with automated driving systems in the United States.
The unit still faces investigations by the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission following an accident last October in which one of its robotaxis struck a pedestrian and dragged her 20 feet (six meters).
The NHTSA said the Office of Defects Investigation has determined that Cruise vehicles were involved in 10 crashes and four of them resulted in injury of vulnerable road users, after analyzing hard braking data from 7,632 incidents commanded by Cruise’s automated driving system.
Cruise along with other self-driving vehicle technology companies such as Alphabet’s Waymo and Amazon’s Zoox have come under heavy regulatory scrutiny due to safety concerns after multiple crashes involving their vehicles.
In response to the October accident and subsequent investigations, Cruise’s CEO resigned last year and General Motors subsequently announced plans to scale back spending on the self-driving unit.
The California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates robotaxi operations in the state, has imposed the maximum penalty of $112,500 on Cruise for its failure to promptly provide complete information to the commission about the October crash.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng, Anil D’Silva and Shinjini Ganguli)
