Products Liability Law Reporter

In October 2023, a pedestrian was struck by a hit-and-run vehicle in a lane adjacent to a Cruise, LLC, vehicle that was operating without a human driver. The impact propelled the pedestrian into the path of the Cruise vehicle, which braked but was unable to avoid striking the pedestrian, who fell underneath the Cruise vehicle. Although the Cruise vehicle initially came to a stop, it resumed movement, dragging the pedestrian about 20 feet before stopping again.

Under NHTSA Standing General Order 2021-01, which requires entities subject to the order to report specified crashes within one calendar day of receiving notice of the crash and provide an updated report on the tenth calendar day, Cruise filed a one-day report for the incident and provided NHTSA with a video recording of it. The one-day and 10-day reports did not disclose that the Cruise vehicle had dragged the pedestrian, however. The following month, Cruise filed an updated report under the Standing General Order, describing the vehicle’s post-crash movement and disclosing the dragging of the pedestrian.

NHTSA asserted that Cruise’s reports did not comply with the requirements of the Standing General Order because they omitted material information regarding the Cruise vehicle’s post-crash behavior. Cruise asserted that it had conducted a reasonable review in good faith and provided additional detail in four reports about the automated driving systems and the incident.

Cruise and NHTSA mutually agreed to a consent order in which Cruise must pay a civil penalty of $1.5 million. Cruise also is required to submit to NHTSA a corrective action plan on how it will improve its compliance with the Standing General Order. The base term of the order is two years, with NHTSA receiving the option to extend the order for an additional year. Cruise and NHTSA will meet quarterly to review periodic reporting and the consent order’s requirements.

Citation: In re Cruise, LLC, Nat’l Highway Traffic Safety Admin., Sept. 26, 2024.

Government counsel: Sophie Shulman, Adam Raviv, Kerry Kolodziej, and Hunter Oliver, all of Washington, D.C.