Autonomous vehicle company, formerly developing robotaxi services in San Francisco. Wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors. Ceased robotaxi operations in December 2024 after pedestrian dragging incident and cover-up.
On October 24, 2023, the California DMV suspended Cruise's permit to test and operate autonomous vehicles without a safety driver. The suspension cited both the pedestrian dragging incident and Cruise's withholding of video evidence and information about the crash from regulators.
Cruise filed documents with NHTSA that omitted the fact that its robotaxi had dragged the pedestrian 20 feet. During an October 3, 2023 meeting with the California DMV, Cruise showed video only up to the first stop, concealing the subsequent dragging. The company did not correct the report for 10 days. Cruise agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement and $500,000 criminal fine, plus $1.5 million NHTSA fine and $112,500 CPUC settlement.
On October 2, 2023, a woman was struck by a human-driven vehicle and thrown into the path of a Cruise autonomous vehicle, which ran over her. The robotaxi's system failed to detect the person underneath and attempted to pull over, dragging the victim 20 feet at 7 mph. The woman was hospitalized with serious injuries. Cruise later settled with the victim for $8-12 million.