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The NHTSA Has Closed Its GM Cruise AV Investigation

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has closed its investigation into GM’s defunct Cruise robotaxi arm. It was under investigation for failure to exercise “appropriate caution around pedestrians in the roadway.” The investigation was opened on October 16th, 2023, and closed on January 14th, 2025.

Cruise AV driving through an intersection.

The NHTSA opened the investigation after receiving two reports of crashes involving pedestrians. The failure report summary shows totals of 1,113 incidents, five crashes, three injuries, and no fatalities.

The NHTSA acknowledges that part of the reason for closing the investigation is GM ceasing Cruise operations altogether. “The recall action taken by Cruise is intended to address safety defects in the post-collision behavior of the ADS in such instances,” the report reads. “Moreover, Cruise has since ceased business operations, and no versions of its ADS are operating on public roads. As such, ODI is closing this Preliminary Evaluation. NHTSA reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by new circumstances.”

Cruise AV driving in a city.

Last November, we reported that GM had to pay a $500,000 fine to the U.S. Justice Department for submitting a false crash report. That’s on top of a $1.5 million penalty GM paid the NHTSA for failure to disclose that incident fully.

The incident in question occurred on October 2nd, 2023. A pedestrian was “launched” in front of an autonomous Cruise vehicle after being struck by an adjacent, non-Cruise-related, human-driven vehicle. The pedestrian was subsequently trapped under the AV and dragged for approximately 20 feet at 7 mph while first responders were forced to use the jaws of life to lift the AV and free the injured pedestrian.

Cruise AV unloading a passenger.

Cruise had a hard time recovering financially and reputationally from the fallout of that incident. In December, GM decided to pull the plug on the operation. It refocused efforts on the Super Cruise semi-autonomous driving system in retail vehicles. If the decision was in any way motivated by making federal investigations like these go away, it’s starting to work.

“GM is committed to delivering the best driving experiences to our customers in a disciplined and capital-efficient manner,” said GM CEO Mary Barra at the time. “Cruise has been an early innovator in autonomy, and the deeper integration of our teams, paired with GM’s strong brands, scale, and manufacturing strength, will help advance our vision for the future of transportation.”

George is an automotive journalist with soft spots for classic GM muscle cars, Corvettes, and Geo.

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Comments

  1. Some people just have to learn the hard way .

    Reply
  2. Where is the NHTSA investigation into the human controlled vehicle that launched the pedestrian into the Cruise AV? Where is the $500,000 fine against that driver?

    Reply

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