Fed’s probe of hard braking in Cruise robotaxi crashes ends after recall

Enlarge / A Cruise robotaxi seen in San Francisco in 2023. Later that year, Cruise paused operations, resuming them in May 2024. (credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Following a successful recall, federal safety investigators have concluded an investigation that was sparked after a number of Cruise robotaxis crashed after braking inappropriately when being followed by other cars. It’s a spot of good news for the autonomous driving startup, which has been under heavy scrutiny by federal and state regulators lately.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation opened a preliminary evaluation in December 2022 after reports emerged that Cruise’s robotaxis could engage in “inappropriately hard braking” or become immobilized while driving, thus becoming obstacles and potentially causing a crash.

At the time, NHTSA had three reports of Cruise robotaxis braking hard in response to another vehicle or cyclist approaching quickly from behind, resulting in the robotaxi being rear-ended.