Cruise Automated Driving System

Transparency and accountability 🙈

Cruise's ADS is seen to suffer from the following transparency and accountability limitations:

• Algorithmic black box. The complexity of autonomous vehicle systems can make it difficult to understand exactly how decisions are made, particularly in the event of an accident, thereby hindering investigations and public trust.

• Disclosure of operational data. Cruise does not regularly publish comprehensive data about its autonomous vehicle operations - a lack of  transparency that makes it difficult for the public and regulators to fully assess the safety and performance of the company's self-driving technology. It was only after its pedestrian dragging incident that Cruise disclosed information about how often its vehicles require remote human intervention.

• Incident reporting. There have been allegations that Cruise has not always shared complete information about accidents involving its vehicles. For instance, the California Department of Motor Vehicles accused Cruise of misrepresenting safety information and not initially sharing all video footage of its pedestrian dragging incident.

• Legal liability. The liability and accountability structure for incidents involving autonomous vehicles remains somewhat ambiguous. It's not always clear whether the company, the remote operators, or other parties bear responsibility when issues arise[3].

• Third-party verification. There appears to be limited independent, third-party verification of Cruise's safety claims and technology capabilities, which  reduces accountability.

Risks and harms 🛑

Cruise's Automated Driving System (ADS) has been criticised for a variety of issues, including technical limitations, poor safety, inadequate transparency and patchy, reactive accountability.

Legal, regulatory 👩🏼‍⚖️

• NHTSA (2023). Part 573 Safety Recall Report (pdf)

• California Department of Motor Vehicles (2023). DMV STATEMENT ON CRUISE LLC SUSPENSION

Research, advocacy 🧮

• Search Google Scholar

• Koopman P. Anatomy of a Robotaxi Crash: Lessons from the Cruise Pedestrian Dragging Mishap

Investigations, assessments, audits 🧐

• Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan (2023). REPORT TO THE BOARDS OF DIRECTORS OF CRUISE LLC, GM CRUISE HOLDINGS LLC, AND GENERAL MOTORS HOLDINGS LLC REGARDING THE OCTOBER 2, 2023 ACCIDENT IN SAN FRANCISCO (pdf)