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GM’s Cruise Recalls Nearly 1,200 Autonomous Vehicles Amid Safety Concerns

Cruise’s Recall Follows A Nearly Two-Year NHTSA Investigation Into Its Unexpected Braking Issues

2 min read

By Michael Phoon • August 22, 2024

GM Cruise robotaxi (Image: GM)

In the realm of autonomous driving electric vehicles (EVs), General Motors’ (GM) autonomous vehicle subsidiary, Cruise, has focused on resolving its regulatory challenges by recalling its fleet of 1,194 self-driving cars.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), this recall addresses long-standing concerns about unexpected braking issues and concludes a nearly two-year probe. The NHTSA investigation, which began in December 2022, examined 7,632 hard-braking events involving Cruise vehicles. 

The NHTSA identified 10 crashes that Cruise vehicles “contributed to,” with four incidents resulting in injuries to vulnerable road users. The problems stemmed from inaccurate predictions of other vehicles’ paths and sensor interference from nearby cars.

Cruise has implemented software updates to improve its robotaxis’ perception, prediction, and planning capabilities. In February, the company demonstrated to NHTSA that its vehicles’ hard-braking rate was “much lower than a human driver.” Although Cruise disagreed with the need for a recall, it agreed to proceed to resolve the investigation.

Further Investigations On Cruise

This development comes at a crucial time for Cruise, which faces ongoing scrutiny from multiple fronts. The company is still under active investigation by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission following an October 2023 incident where a Cruise robotaxi struck and dragged a pedestrian who had been previously hit by another vehicle.

In the wake of that accident, Cruise has undergone major changes, including:

  • Losing its operating permits in California
  • Grounding its entire U.S. fleet
  • Replacing its founder and several other leaders
  • Abandoning plans for its purpose-built autonomous vehicle, the Origin

Moreover, the company is working to rebuild trust and resume operations. In June, Cruise reached a settlement with California’s Public Utilities Commission, taking a step towards restarting its robotaxi service in the state. The commission had previously imposed a maximum penalty of $112,500 on Cruise for failing to promptly provide complete information about the October crash.

Cruise has resumed supervised autonomous driving in Phoenix with safety drivers, as it seeks to demonstrate the safety and reliability of its technology. The closure of the NHTSA investigation marks a positive development for the company, but challenges remain as it works to address ongoing regulatory concerns and rebuild public confidence in autonomous vehicle technology.

With the autonomous vehicle industry still in development, scrutiny over safety issues and the outcome of Cruise’s efforts to address these concerns may have broader implications for the future of self-driving technology and its regulation in the country.

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