NHTSA closes preliminary investigation into General Motors' Cruise robotaxis

U.S. automobile safety regulators are closing their preliminary investigation into General Motors' Cruise robotaxis without taking further action.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that the Office of Defects Investigation opened a preliminary evaluation in October 2023 to determine whether vehicles equipped with an Automated Driving System made and operated by Cruise LLC were using appropriate caution around pedestrians in the roadway after receiving two reports of crashes involving pedestrians. The office also identified two public reports of Cruise ADS-equipped vehicles encroaching on pedestrians in crosswalks.

GM, which bought control of San Francisco-based Cruise automation in 2016, had one incident on October 2, 2023. The crash involved one of its Cruise robotaxis dragging a pedestrian to the side of a San Francisco street. The crash prompted Cruise to suspend driverless operations nationwide after California regulators found that its cars posed a danger to public safety. The state’s Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the license for Cruise, which was transporting passengers without human drivers throughout San Francisco.

The agency said Tuesday that it analyzed 2,759 reports identified by Cruise that involved collisions, including 1,113 that involved a “pedestrian conflict.” Five of those incidents involved a collision between a Cruise and a pedestrian, with three injuries in total.

“In each of the five pedestrian collision incidents, the Cruise vehicle took avoiding action but was unable to avoid a collision,” according to NHTSA.

Cruise filed a safety recall in November 2023 for a defect in its ADS software.

The NHTSA said that the recall was intended to address safety defects and that Cruise has since ceased business operations and no versions of its ADS are operating on public roads.

The ODI is closing its preliminary evaluation, but the NHTSA said that it reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by new circumstances.

Last month GM said that it will retreat from the robotaxi business and stop funding its money-losing Cruise autonomous vehicle unit.

The Detroit-based company said at the time that it would combine Cruise’s technical team with its own to work on advanced systems to assist drivers.

Shares of General Motors rose about 2.5% in morning trading Wednesday amid a broader market rally.