GM’s Cruise admits submitting false report to robotaxi safety investigation
General Motors’ self-driving car unit, Cruise, admitted on Thursday to submitting a false report to influence a federal investigation and will pay a $500,000 criminal fine as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, the justice department said.
The department said Cruise failed to disclose key details of an October 2023 crash to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in which one of its robotaxis in San Francisco struck a pedestrian after she was hit by another vehicle and dragged her 20ft (6.1 meters).
“Companies with self-driving cars that seek to share our roads and crosswalks must be fully truthful in their reports to their regulators,” said Martha Boersch, who heads the criminal division for the US attorney’s office in San Francisco.
Under the three-year agreement, Cruise must cooperate with government investigations, implement a safety compliance program and provide annual reports to the US attorney’s office, which can proceed with prosecution of the charged offense if Cruise fails to comply over the next three years.
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