The board of General Motors (GM) subsidiary Cruise has hired an outside law firm and technology consultants to review its response to a pedestrian accident in California last month.
After a cruise robotaxi hit a pedestrian last month caught and trapped, who had previously been hit by another car, has this California Department of Transportation (DMV) the self-driving activities of the by GM owned company. The board of directors of Cruise is now working with law firm Quinn Emanuel to investigate the management team’s response to the incident and with consulting firm Exponent, which will review the company’s technology.
On Friday, GM released a statement reaffirming that it would cooperate with authorities. Nevertheless, we are sticking to the goal of commercializing robot taxis.
In late October, the California DMV said Cruise misrepresented and omitted relevant information reporting the Oct. 2 pedestrian accident.
In a follow-up letter to Cruise, California DMV Deputy Director Bernard Soriano wrote that the vehicle’s maneuverability suggests Cruise’s vehicles may not be able to respond to pedestrian incidents in a safe and appropriate manner. Cruise’s failure to do so prevents the department from effectively and timely assessing the safe use of Cruise vehicles and therefore endangers the safety of the public.
Cruise also said last week that it was independently pausing all of its self-driving activities, adding that this would be accompanied by review processes.
Cruise is facing investigations from federal and state regulators after a series of accidents involving the company’s vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced an investigation into Cruise last month, and the federal agency’s Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) released two reports on pedestrian injuries related to the company’s robotaxis.
In August, Cruise was also ordered by the California DMV to temporarily reduce its self-driving fleet in San Francisco by half after several incidents occurred. GM CEO Mary Barra, who sits on Cruise’s board of directors, said the automaker plans to reveal more details about its plans with Cruise this year and stressed that Cruise’s expansion will be supported with funding.