General Motors has faced its fair share of woes concerning its autonomous commercial vehicle division, Cruise, particularly after one of its self-driving vehicles trapped a person that had been hit by another vehicle last year. Since then, GM has slashed Cruise’s budget on multiple occasions, though the company reportedly remains committed to it, regardless. In fact, this past September, GM announced that it would be supplying Uber with its self-driving robotaxi units starting at some unspecified point next year, which users will be able to ride in via the company’s mobile app. Now, however, that same unit is being forced to pay another big fine.
According to GM Authority, Cruise has admitted to submitting a false report to influence a federal investigation conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) following the aforementioned pedestrian-involved incident in 2023, in which it reportedly “failed to disclose key details of the case.” As such, the Justice Department has announced that Cruise will be required to pay a $500,000 criminal fine as part of a deferred prosecution agreement.
That three-year agreement requires Cruise to cooperate with federal investigators, provide annual reports to the the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and create and implement a safety compliance program. If the company doesn’t comply with these requirements, it could be prosecuted. GM and the person injured as a result of that incident previously reached a settlement worth a reported $8 million, while Cruise already agreed to pay the NHTSA $1.5 million and create a corrective action plan to resolve its investigation.
GM and Cruise aren’t alone in shelling out big money to the NHTSA following the course of an investigation, as Ford was recently ordered to pay a civil penalty of $165 million – the second-largest ever issued by the agency, behind only Takata’s air bag consent order. This move comes after the NHTSA completed its investigation into The Blue Oval and found that it failed to recall vehicles equipped with faulty rearview cameras in a timely manner, and also, noted that the automaker didn’t provide accurate and complete recall information required by the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.
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