Cruise fined $500k for submitting a false report after last year’s pedestrian crash

GM’s Cruise will pay a criminal fine of $500,000 to resolve a federal investigation and accept a deferred prosecution agreement after the company admitted to falsifying a report to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) “with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation” of a crash where one of its driverless vehicles struck and dragged a pedestrian in 2023.

NHTSA had already fined Cruise $1.5 million in September for submitting incomplete reports that failed to disclose that the robotaxi dragged the pedestrian 20 feet after they were hit by another vehicle and knocked into its path. The dragging wasn’t in a verbal summary Cruise employees gave to NHTSA the next day, video of the accident shown to investigators failed to that specific segment, and a 1-day written report submitted by Cruise left the dragging out too, which “rendered the report inaccurate and incomplete in light of NHTSA’s requirements.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California, described how this case is being resolved:

Under the deferred prosecution agreement, Cruise is required to pay a $500,000 criminal fine, cooperate with government investigations, implement a Safety Compliance Program, and provide annual reports to the United States Attorney’s Office on implementation and remediation.

If Cruise fails to completely perform or fulfill its obligations under the agreement during the agreement’s three-year term, the U.S. Attorney’s Office can proceed with prosecution of the charged offense.

Last month, GM reported the autonomous unit lost $435 million in the third quarter of 2024 as its fleet remained out of service.