California Fines GM's Cruise for Delay in Reporting Accident
A California regulator announced on Thursday that it will fine General Motors’ Cruise unit for not providing all necessary information quickly about an accident involving one of its self-driving cars last year. Cruise hasn’t commented on this decision yet.
Why It's Important
Self-driving car companies like Cruise, Waymo (owned by Alphabet), and Zoox (owned by Amazon) are facing strict checks because of safety concerns related to several crashes involving their self-driving cars.
The Numbers
Cruise will pay the highest penalty possible from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The total fine is $112,500, which breaks down to $7,500 for each of the 15 days that Cruise didn’t provide information about the accident. Additionally, Cruise has to provide collision reports to the CPUC and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for any accidents happening in California.
Context
This decision by the CPUC comes a few months after Cruise tried to resolve an investigation by the regulator regarding its delay in sharing details about an accident where a pedestrian was hit twice—once by another car and then again by a Cruise robotaxi in San Francisco on October 2.
Because of this incident, Cruise’s permit to operate in California was suspended, and the NHTSA recalled its vehicles. Although Cruise restarted operations with a small fleet of human-driven cars in Phoenix, Arizona in April, it still doesn’t have permission to use autonomous vehicles for passenger services in California, as noted by the CPUC on Thursday.
