Feds order Cruise to pay $1.5M penalty for infamous SF crash

Federal regulators on Monday announced they had Cruise pay a $1.5 million penalty for withholding details in reports following an accident nearly a year ago in which one of the company’s self-driving cars pinned and dragged a woman nearly 20 feet at a San Francisco intersection.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration consent order dated to Sept. 26 requires the General Motors subsidiary to submit a corrective action plan, which must include summaries on any software update made to the company’s automatic driving system, as well as any reports on citations or observed violations of traffic laws. Federal regulators also ordered Cruise to include the number of vehicles operating in its reports, in addition to the number of miles driven and whether or not the vehicles have a driver.

Steve Kenner, Cruise’s chief safety officer , said in a statement that “our agreement with NHTSA 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.”

“We look forward to continued close collaboration with NHTSA as our operations progress, in service of our shared goal of improving road safety,” Kenner added.

On Oct. 3, 2023, a human driver struck a woman with their car at the intersection of Fifth and Market streets . She then entered the path of a Cruise vehicle, which pinned and dragged her for nearly 20 feet. The car first came to a stop before dragging her. The woman was hospitalized for months and reportedly settled with Cruise for as much as $12 million .

Cruise’s one- and 10-day reports to the NHTSA didn’t mention that the robotaxi dragged the woman after coming to a stop, according to federal regulators. It wasn’t until a Nov. 2 report that Cruise indicated to federal regulators the full extent of what happened a month earlier.

“Cruise was aware of the Cruise vehicle’s post-crash behavior, including the dragging of the pedestrian, at the time the required one-day and ten-day reports were filed, but omitted that material information from the reports,” regulators wrote in Monday’s order.

The company also didn’t provide a full accounting to California regulators of the crash’s nature until Oct. 18, 16 days after the crash, according to a California Public Utilities Commission judge who, in July, approved a settlement between the state and Cruise . The crash, which occurred not long after the CPUC cleared the way for Cruise and Waymo to charge for rides without restrictions, set off a chain of events leading to Cruise pulling its robotaxi fleet from roads across the country.

Cruise will be required to report to NHTSA officials for two years, though federal regulators can exercise their option of extending the order for a third year. Company employees and federal regulators will also meet quarterly to discuss Cruise’s operations and the company’s progress under the order. Cruise officials must also submit a final report outlining their compliance with the order, as well as their state of operations, on June 28, 2026, or 90 days before the order’s base term ends.

In a statement, NHTSA deputy administrator Sophie Shulman said “[it] is vitally important for companies developing automated driving systems to prioritize safety and transparency from the start.”

“NHTSA is using its enforcement authority to ensure operators and manufacturers comply with all legal obligations and work to protect all road users,” Shulman said.

Nearly two weeks ago, the autonomous-vehicle company announced that it plans to test up to five cars on roads in Mountain View and Sunnyvale this fal l with human drivers behind the wheel. Company officials said the move was meant to be a step toward restarting commercial operations in the Bay Area.