What happened

On October 2, 2023, a hit-and-run in San Francisco ended with a pedestrian 'stuck' under a Cruise autonomous vehicle (AV) having been hit by another, human-driven Nissan car, and dragged 20 feet across the road. 

Cruise disabled the vehicle, enabling rescuers to get the vehicle off the woman’s leg.

Why it happened

Cruise initially pinned the blame on the driver of the other car, but later said its automated driving system 'inaccurately characterized the collision as a lateral collision and commanded the AV to attempt to pull over out of traffic, pulling the individual forward, rather than remaining stationary.'

What it means

The incident, which had significant repercussions for the company, raised serious questions about the safety and integrity of Cruise's self-driving system and AV programme, the quality of its leadership, the ethics, values and culture of the company, its transparency and legal and public accountability, and legal liability.

➕ October 2023. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a preliminary evaluation into Cruise over possible risks to pedestrians from its driverless vehicles. 

➕ October 2023. California's Department of Motor Vehicles indefinitely suspended Cruise's self-driving service after determining that its driverless cars were regarded as unsafe, and that the company had 'misrepresented' information related to the safety of its vehicles. 

➕ October 2023. Cruise paused its driverless fleet of 950 cars in order to 'take steps to rebuild public trust.'

➕ November 2023. Cruise recalled all 950 of its cars in the form of an update to its Collision Detection Subsystem so that the vehicle remains stationary during certain crash incidents, rather than pulling over to the side of the road. 

➕ November 2023. The New York Times revealed that Cruise workers intervened to help the company’s driverless robotaxis every 2.5 to 5 miles, calling into question whether they can reasonably be classified as 'self-driving'.

➕ November 2023. Cruise fired nine senior employees and retained the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP 'to examine and better understand Cruise’s response to the October 2 incident.'

➕ November 2023. Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt resigned.

➕ November 2023. Cruise owner General Motors said it would 'substantially' reduce spending on Cruise.

➕ January 2024. Details are revealed of a report by law firm Quinn Emanuel on the incident that called out Cruise's 'deficient leadership', an 'us versus them' mentality with regulators, and a 'fundamental misapprehension of Cruise’s obligations of accountability and transparency to the government and the public'.

➕ September 2024. Cruise is fined by USD 1.5 million by the NHTSA as part of a broader consent order with Cruise that includes additional requirements around safety and disclosure.