Recently, San Francisco-based Cruise LLC, a leader in driverless car technology, reached a settlement in federal court after acknowledging providing a fake record to sway a government investigation. This charge is related to a tragic event in which a pedestrian was severely injured on the streets of San Francisco by one of the company’s autonomous vehicles. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the resolution consists of a deferred prosecution agreement and a $500,000 felony penalty.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office reports that on October 2, 2023, a pedestrian was thrown into the path of an autonomous Cruise car, which then struck and ran over her. However, the company’s following report to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) significantly left out information on how the victim was dragged more than 20 feet as it attempted to move to the side of the road because the vehicle failed to identify the pedestrian underneath. The U.S. Attorney’s Criminal Division Chief, Martha Boersch, stressed that “Companies with self-driving cars that seek to share our roads and crosswalks must be fully truthful in their reports to their regulators.”
Due to this development, Cruise LLC is now subject to intense scrutiny over the completeness and accuracy of its incident reporting, which is required by the federal government. A video that was sent to NHTSA as a follow-up to the false report accidentally omitted the part that showed the dragging because of technical difficulties. Even after giving authorities accurate video footage, Cruise’s staff failed to alter the claim. The U.S. Attorney’s Office claims that as a result of the car accident, Cruise pledged to make major operational changes and make sure the involved employees left the firm.
In addition to the substantial penalties, Cruise is required by the deferred prosecution agreement to establish a strong Safety Compliance Program, provide the U.S. Attorney’s Office with yearly performance and remedial reports, and fully cooperate with current investigations. Prosecution may be restarted if these conditions are not fulfilled within the three-year period specified in the agreement. These actions serve as a reminder of how crucial corporate responsibility is.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Noah Stern and Lloyd Farnham handled the case, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (DOT-OIG). Cruise has agreed to the monetary fine and strict terms, which are a part of a larger effort to make sure public safety keeps up with the quick development of autonomous car technology.
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