GM's Cruise Recalls Nearly 1,200 Robotaxis Amid U.S. Safety Probe

General Motors' Cruise division has initiated a recall of nearly 1,200 robotaxis due to concerns over hard braking issues, as confirmed by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Thursday. This recall follows an investigation into the safety of Cruise’s autonomous driving systems, which was launched in December 2022 after reports surfaced of two injuries linked to three rear-end collisions.

The conclusion of this investigation marks a pivotal moment for Cruise as the company seeks to regain the trust of state and federal authorities. Cruise aims to resume its robotaxi operations without the need for backup safety drivers, ultimately opening its services to paying customers. While Cruise disagreed with the NHTSA’s determination that a recall was necessary, the company chose to comply in order to bring the investigation to a close.

"We are committed to building trust and increasing transparency with respect to autonomous vehicle technology," a Cruise spokesperson stated on Thursday.

Cruise noted that it had already implemented software updates aimed at significantly reducing the risk of unexpected braking incidents. According to the company, data provided to the NHTSA indicates that the rate of such events in Cruise's autonomous vehicles is "very low and much lower than that of a human driver." The NHTSA also reported that none of the incidents under investigation resulted in crashes or injuries.

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However, the NHTSA is still investigating whether Cruise's autonomous robotaxis are adequately safeguarding pedestrians. This separate probe was initiated in October and remains ongoing. Additionally, Cruise is under investigation by both the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission following an October incident where one of its robotaxis struck a pedestrian, dragging her 20 feet after she had been hit by another vehicle.

According to NHTSA findings, Cruise vehicles have been involved in 10 crashes, four of which resulted in injuries. The data analyzed included 7,632 incidents where Cruise’s automated driving system commanded hard braking.

In light of these challenges, GM announced last month that it would indefinitely suspend plans to deploy its self-driving Origin vehicle, which lacks a steering wheel. Cruise, along with other autonomous driving technology companies like Alphabet's Waymo and Amazon's Zoox, has faced intense regulatory scrutiny due to safety concerns following various crashes involving their vehicles.

The October accident and subsequent investigations also led to the resignation of Cruise's CEO, followed by GM's decision to reduce spending on its self-driving unit. After temporarily halting all autonomous driving operations following the accident, Cruise resumed supervised operations in Phoenix this past May, with safety drivers present.

In response to the October crash, the California Public Utilities Commission imposed the maximum penalty of $112,500 on Cruise for its failure to promptly provide complete information regarding the incident.