General Motors’ autonomous vehicle unit, Cruise, is under investigation by federal regulators following two incidents where its cars failed to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, according to a letter released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Friday.
The letter, dated October 20, stated that Cruise autonomous cars “may not be exercising appropriate caution around pedestrians in the roadway.” It also said that this behavior could increase the risk of a collision, potentially resulting in injury or death.
This latest inquiry follows another letter from NHTSA, also dated October 20, which expressed concerns about multiple hard-braking incidents involving Cruise vehicles that led to collisions.
The NHTSA letter highlighted two videos in which Cruise vehicles came close to pedestrians in crosswalks, nearly striking them. In one video, the car appeared to steer toward a pedestrian walking a dog before braking, causing the pedestrian to pause and pull back on the leash. The other video showed the car narrowly avoiding four pedestrians, including two children, in a crosswalk before continuing down the street.
In response to the videos, Cruise stated on Friday that the vehicles were tracking all pedestrians in both cases and that they have been continuously improving the technology to give pedestrians more space around the vehicles.
Regarding the NHTSA investigation, Cruise confirmed its cooperation with the regulator and stated its commitment to continuing to provide the requested information.
NHTSA has requested additional information from Cruise regarding the pedestrian incidents, including all videos from at least 30 seconds before and after each event, as well as composite renderings. The agency has set a deadline of October 27.
This investigation adds to Cruise’s troubles in October after the California Department of Motor Vehicles ordered the removal of its driverless cars from state roads, citing safety concerns and alleged misrepresentation of the technology’s safety. Cruise has halted its unmanned vehicle service, which was primarily operating in San Francisco, but it is still permitted to test autonomous cars with human safety drivers.
Cruise is competing with Alphabet’s Waymo unit and others in the development of robot cars for wider production and deployment. The technology is still being perfected through real-world testing, but resistance from lawmakers and citizens concerned about the vehicles’ safety risks has been a challenge for these companies.
In addition to California, Cruise and Waymo have deployed their cars in several other states, including Arizona and Texas. Waymo continues to operate its driverless passenger operations in San Francisco.
The Teamsters union, which has opposed the broad rollout of autonomous vehicles, sees Cruise’s decision to pause driverless operations nationwide as a significant concession by the industry, stating, “It’s a cautionary tale of what happens when we let AV companies govern themselves.”
Reporting by Greg Bensinger in San Francisco, additional reporting by David Shepardson in Washington, edited by Matthew Lewis.
