U.S. auto safety regulators have closed a preliminary investigation into General Motors’ Cruise robotaxi without further action.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced that its Office of Defects Investigation will conduct a preliminary evaluation to determine whether vehicles equipped with self-driving systems manufactured and operated by Cruise LLC are paying appropriate attention to pedestrians on the road. After receiving reports of the incident, the company announced that it would start in October 2023. A collision involving a pedestrian. The office also identified two public reports of Cruise ADS-equipped vehicles invading pedestrians in crosswalks.
GM, which acquired a controlling interest in San Francisco-based Cruise Automation in 2016, suffered an accident on October 2, 2023. In that incident, one of the company’s Cruise robotaxis pulled a pedestrian to the side of a San Francisco street. The incident prompted Cruise to temporarily suspend driverless operations across the United States after California regulators determined that its vehicles posed a public safety risk. The state Department of Transportation revoked Cruise’s license for transporting passengers throughout San Francisco without a human driver.
The agency announced Tuesday that it analyzed 2,759 crash reports identified by Cruise, including 1,113 for “pedestrian collisions.” Five of the crashes were between cruisers and pedestrians, resulting in three people being injured.
According to NHTSA, “In each of the five pedestrian collisions, the Cruze vehicle took evasive action but was unable to avoid the collision.”
Cruise filed for a safety recall in November 2023 due to a flaw in its ADS software.
NHTSA said the recall was intended to address a safety defect, and that Cruise has since ceased operations and no versions of the company’s ADS are on public roads.
ODI has completed its preliminary evaluation, but NHTSA said it reserves the right to take additional action if new circumstances warrant.
Last month, GM announced it would exit the robotaxi business and stop funding its loss-making Cruise self-driving car division.
The Detroit-based company announced at the time that it would combine Cruise’s technology team with its own to develop advanced systems to assist drivers.
General Motors stock rose about 2.5% in morning trading Wednesday, following broad market gains.
