Cruise admits filing false report to influence federal investigation into San Francisco crash

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco-based autonomous vehicle company Cruise LLC admitted to filing a false report to influence a federal investigation into a crash last year in which a pedestrian was crushed and dragged more than 20 feet, according to authorities.

Cruise will also pay a $500,000 fine as part of the deferred prosecution agreement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Thursday.

“Today’s deferred prosecution agreement holds Cruise LLC and its employees accountable for their lack of integrity in the federal compliance case,” said Cory LeGars, special agent in charge of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General. “Together with our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners, we will use our collective resources to pursue companies and individuals who deliberately circumvent enforcement of federal regulations.”

The accident occurred on October 2, 2023, in San Francisco, when a driverless Cruise vehicle hit a woman who jumped into its path. The vehicle initially stalled; However, the detection system did not detect that there was a pedestrian under it and tried to pull the woman aside by dragging her for more than 20 meters.

Prosecutors said Cruise filed a report with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as required by federal regulations but omitted details about the dragging.

Company employees later released video of the incident showing the dragging.

On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Cruise with providing false records to NHTSA in order to obstruct, impede or influence the investigation of a crash involving one of his vehicles. The company settled the charge through a deferred prosecution agreement and payment of a $500,000 fine.

The agreement requires Cruise to cooperate with investigations, implement a safety compliance program and submit annual reports on implementation and improvement.

If the company fails to comply with the agreement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office may pursue litigation.

Prosecutors said they reached the decision regarding Cruise based on a number of factors, including the company’s timely notification of an internal investigation to the government and its offer to cooperate after being notified that the government had opened an investigation.

Cruise’s cooperation included remedial measures such as ensuring that employees identified as responsible for the false report were no longer employed by the firm.

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