SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco-based autonomous vehicle company Cruise LLC has admitted to filing a false report to sway a federal probe into a crash last year in which a pedestrian was run over and dragged more than 20 feet, according to authorities.
As part of a deferred prosecution agreement, Cruise will also pay a $500,000 fine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement Thursday.
“Today’s deferred prosecution agreement holds Cruise LLC and its employees accountable for their lack of candor in a federal regulatory compliance action,” said Cory LeGars, a special agent-in-charge with the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General. “Together with our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners, we will engage our collective resources to pursue companies and individuals who intentionally circumvent administration of federal regulations.”
The crash happened in San Francisco on Oct. 2, 2023, when a Cruise vehicle operating without a driver ran over a woman who was thrown into its path. The vehicle initially stopped; however, its detection system did not sense a pedestrian was underneath it and it attempted to pull over, dragging the woman more than 20 feet.
The pedestrian was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries and later reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with the company’s parent, General Motors Co.
Cruise filed a report with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as required by federal regulations, but omitted details about the dragging, prosecutors said.
Company employees later provided video of the incident that showed the dragging.
On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Cruise with providing a false record to the NHTSA with the intent to impede, obstruct or influence the investigation of a crash involving one of its vehicles. The company resolved the charge through the deferred prosecution agreement and the half-million dollar fine.
The agreement requires Cruise to cooperate with investigations, implement a safety compliance program, and provide annual reports on implementation and remediation.
If the company does not adhere to the agreement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office can move forward with the case.
Prosecutors said they reached the resolution with Cruise based on a number of factors, including the company’s timely notification to the government of an internal investigation and offer of cooperation, after being notified the government had opened an investigation.
Cruise’s cooperation included remedial measures such as ensuring that employees identified as responsible for the falsified report are no longer employed by the firm.
The NHTSA previously ordered the company to pay a $1.5 million fine for failing to properly report details about the crash, as well as to submit a corrective action plan.
Following the crash, state regulators suspended Cruise’s driverless testing permit. The company then grounded its autonomous vehicles nationwide. Chief Executive Officer Kyle Vogt resigned, nine executives were terminated and about a quarter of the workforce was laid off.
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