Cruise Fined Another $500K for Filing False Crash Report

Self-driving taxi company Cruise has agreed to pay $500,000 as part of deferred prosecution agreement after admitting submitting a false report to influence a federal investigation in the United States.

The penalty relates to the infamous accident in San Francisco last year, in which a pedestrian was badly injured after being dragged along the road by one of the Cruise driverless vehicles.

In a statement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California said the General Motors subsidiary had “agreed to resolve a criminal charge in federal court for providing a false record to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation of a crash involving one of Cruise’s autonomous vehicles”. 

The statement said that Cruise also will be required to “cooperate with government investigations, implement a safety compliance program and provide annual reports to the United States Attorney’s Office on implementation and remediation.”

The penalty is the latest in a series of punishments for Cruise, following the incident in San Francisco in October 2023, when a pedestrian struck by a human-driven car before coming into contact with the Cruise self-driving taxi. The AV stopped, then restarted, dragging the individual 20 feet along the ground, before the taxi finally came to a permanent halt.

Related:Woman Trapped Under Self-Driving Taxi After Freak Accident

While the accident was shocking enough, it was Cruise’s following actions that caused such severe repercussions. 

As the Attorney’s Office statement detailed, Cruise’s initial report to the NHTSA made no mention of the restart or the dragging. The dragging was also omitted in a video conference and in a second report.

It was 15 days after the incident that the company submitted what was considered to be a truthful account of what had gone on.

Cruise has already agreed to pay $1.5 million as part of a ‘Consent Order’ by the NHTSA. And in June it was fined $112,500 by the California Public Utilities Commission. The Securities and Exchange Commission is also investigating Cruise.

Aside from all the penalties, the consequences for the company have been vast. It immediately lost its licenses to operate in California as it was deemed a risk to public safety, before it opted to suspend all operations nationwide. A number of key executives were forced to leave, hundreds of staff lost their jobs and funding from GM was significantly reduced.

Responding to the latest fine, Cruise president Craig Glidden said: “Cruise will comply with the requirements set forth in the agreement, as we continue to move forward under new leadership and with a firm commitment to transparency with our regulators.” 

Related:Cruise Fined $112,500 for Self-Driving Taxi Accident Response

In the last few months the Cruise self-driving taxis have resumed testing in the Bay Area, as well as in Phoenix, Dallas and Houston.