GM's Cruise agrees to pay $1.5 million U.S. fine as part of consent order with NHTSA over crash disclosures

General Motors' self-driving subsidiary Cruise agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine as part of a consent order with federal safety regulators.

The company filed incomplete safety reports regarding multiple crashes involving its automated driving systems, regulators said, including a collision that injured a pedestrian in San Francisco on Oct. 2, 2023.

Along with the fine, Cruise is required to submit a corrective action plan and attend quarterly meetings with regulators, NHTSA officials said in a statement Sept. 30.

"It is vitally important for companies developing automated driving systems to prioritize safety and transparency from the start," NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman said in the statement.

Cruise said the agreement marked the next step as the company regroups and rebuilds following the pedestrian crash.

The agreement “is a step forward in a new chapter for Cruise, building on our progress under new leadership, improved processes and culture, and a firm commitment to greater transparency with our regulators,” Steve Kenner, the company’s chief safety officer, said in a statement.

The company failed to comply with the federal government's standing general order that requires manufacturers and tech companies to provide reports and detailed narratives on crashes involving automated driving systems, regulators said. Preliminary reports are supposed to be filed within a day of learning about a crash, with follow-up reports due 10 days after a crash.

Cruise filed these reports related to the Oct. 2 crash but omitted information about its robotaxi stopping atop the pedestrian and then moving again, dragging the victim an additional 20 feet, according to the consent order.

Cruise did not disclose the additional movement until Nov. 3, according to regulators.

In the immediate aftermath, California regulators suspended Cruise's driverless testing permits, alleging in part the company failed to disclose the same details about the vehicle's behavior in the pedestrian crash.

Cruise idled its nationwide fleet, and most of its senior executives either resigned or were fired.

The company resumed basic driving in April, with human-driven vehicles mapping areas of Phoenix. Since then, Cruise has resumed autonomous driving with human safety monitors aboard in Phoenix and Dallas.

It has also started manual driving in Houston and in the Bay Area without autonomous systems engaged.

Beyond the pedestrian-dragging incident, regulators said Sept. 30 that Cruise has amended reports related to four other crashes. Those reports involved low-speed crashes with no severe injuries or fatalities occurring, NHTSA said.

The term of the consent order is two years, NHTSA said. Regulators hold an option to extend the order for a third year.

The consent order does not affect a separate NHTSA investigation into the behavior of Cruise vehicles around pedestrians, federal officials said. That investigation, examining whether Cruise robotaxis exercised "appropriate caution," remains ongoing.