(December 17, 2022) WASHINGTON — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a formal safety probe into the autonomous driving system in vehicles produced by General Motors' robotaxi unit Cruise LLC. The NHTSA said it has received notices of incidents in which vehicles operated by Cruise "may engage in inappropriately hard braking or become immobilized."

The agency said while both issues "appear to be distinct, they each result in the Cruise vehicles becoming unexpected roadway obstacles." The safety agency's preliminary evaluation covers 242 Cruise autonomous vehicles and is the first step before it could seek a recall.

The investigation follows reports of three crashes in which Cruise vehicles were struck from behind by other cars after the autonomous vehicles braked quickly. Cruise is offering limited service in San Francisco with a small fleet of Chevrolet Bolt EVs.

Cruise said it has "driven nearly 700,000 fully autonomous miles in an extremely complex urban environment with zero life-threatening injuries or fatalities.... There’s always a balance between healthy regulatory scrutiny and the innovation we desperately need to save lives, which is why we’ll continue to fully cooperate with NHTSA or any regulator in achieving that shared goal."

NHTSA said it plans to fully assess the potential safety-related issues posed by these two types of incidents and will review "the commonality and safety logic of the hard braking incidents" and the "frequency, duration and safety consequences associated with the vehicle immobilization incidents."

NHTSA said the issues "may introduce multiple potential hazards such as a collision with a Cruise vehicle, risk to a stranded passenger exiting an immobilized Cruise vehicle, or obstruction of other traffic including emergency vehicles."

Cruise in September recalled and updated software in 80 self-driving vehicles after a June crash in San Francisco that left two people injured. NHTSA said the recalled software could “incorrectly predict” an oncoming vehicle’s path. Cruise said it had determined this unusual scenario would not recur after the update.

GM and Cruise in February disclosed they petitioned NHTSA for permission to deploy some self-driving vehicles without steering wheels, mirrors, turn signals or windshield wipers. That petition is still pending.

Source: Automotive News