California to fine GM’s unit Cruise for delaying report on San Francisco accident

(Reuters) – A California regulator said on Thursday it is imposing the maximum penalty possible on General Motors (NYSE:)’ Cruise unit for its failure to promptly provide complete information to the commission about an accident involving one of its self-driving vehicles last year.

Cruise did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

Cruise along with other self-driving vehicle companies like Alphabet (NASDAQ:)’s Waymo and Amazon (NASDAQ:)’s Zoox have come under heavy scrutiny from regulators arising out of safety concerns due to multiple crashes involving their vehicles.

BY THE NUMBERS

Cruise will pay the maximum penalty allowable by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), totaling $112,500, which equates to a $7,500 fine for each of the 15 days during which Cruise withheld information about the incident, the regulator said.

Cruise will also provide “collision reports” to the CPUC and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for collisions occurring in California.

CONTEXT

The decision from the CPUC comes a few months after Cruise had raised its offer to resolve a probe by the regulator over its delay in disclosing details of a pedestrian crash.

On Oct. 2, in San Francisco, a pedestrian was struck by another car and hit a second time by a Cruise robotaxi.

Cruise’s permit to operate in California was suspended and the NHTSA issued a recall of its vehicles after the incident.

Cruise had resumed operations in the U.S. with a small fleet of human-driven vehicles in Phoenix, Arizona in April, but Cruise’s authority to provide passenger service in its autonomous vehicles remains suspended, the CPUC said on Thursday.