By Steven Symes 
Cruise, General Motors’ robotaxi service, just got hit with a monster $500,000 criminal fine from the federal government after it admitted to submitting a false crash report. That should serve as a warning to other self-driving taxi car services that they should be upfront with information about any incidents rather than try obscuring facts.
Ford has been hit with the second-highest NHTSA penalty ever.
That false report was about an incident back in October 2023 when a Cruise robotaxi hit a pedestrian after that woman was struck by another car in San Francisco. The unmanned vehicle dragged the female victim 20 feet before it finally stopped. And this is why people question the safety of autonomous cars.
In the accident report submitted by Cruise to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration the part about the pedestrian being dragged by the robotaxi was left out. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that portion made the company look not so great and that’s why it was omitted.
Both the Cruise CEO and a co-founder resigned in the fallout after the pedestrian accident. Several executives were fired and about a quarter of the company’s workforce was laid off.
As part of an agreement with the federal government, Cruise will cooperate with future investigations, launch a safety compliance program, and submit annual reports to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Failure to comply means the company can be charged for submitting the false crash report, reports Reuters.
Already, Cruise has to pay a $1.5 million fine to NHTSA after an investigation into safety issues, which ultimately resulted in a recall of 1,200 vehicles. Another investigation into pedestrian safety is ongoing.
With the incoming Trump Administration signaling a shift towards allowing robotaxi services across the country, precedents like this one with Cruise could be incredibly important. After all, everyone should frown upon these companies lying about any incidents, especially as there are more self-driving vehicles on public roads.
Image via Cruise