Background
GM’s Cruise division, responsible for autonomous vehicles, is currently under investigation.
The investigation is being conducted by the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Incident Details
On October 2, there was a pedestrian accident involving a Cruise autonomous vehicle.
A jaywalking pedestrian was struck by the vehicle and dragged for 20 feet, causing additional injuries.
Failure to Inform Regulators
Cruise allegedly did not inform regulators during a briefing the day after the accident.
The internal report revealed that at least 100 Cruise employees, including senior leadership, were aware of the dragging incident but did not disclose it during meetings with officials.
Third-Party Findings
Cruise released third-party findings about the accident.
They admitted to failing to meet the expectations of regulators.
Media Narrative and Video Issues
The report indicates that Cruise leadership focused on correcting the media narrative about the incident.
Cruise intended to rely on a video of the incident, but due to internet connection issues, the video did not play clearly.
Failure to Affirm Key Details
Cruise employees failed to verbally affirm the pullover maneuver and dragging of the pedestrian.
Attributed Failings
The report attributes the failings to various factors:
Poor leadership
Mistakes in judgment
Lack of coordination
An ‘us versus them’ mentality with regulators
Fundamental misapprehension of Cruise’s obligations of accountability and transparency
Previous Issues
Before this incident, Cruise had problems with its autonomous vehicles failing to recognize children.
Human operators had to intervene every four to five miles.
Consequences
Following the incident, Cruise had its license to operate suspended in California in October.
The company laid off 24 percent of its workforce.
Leadership changes occurred, with co-founder Daniel Kan resigning and CEO Kyle Vogt departing.
Legal Challenges
Apart from federal investigations, Cruise is also facing a lawsuit from the city of San Francisco.