January 17, 2025 – The U.S. auto safety regulator announced on Wednesday local time that it has concluded its investigation into whether Cruise, the autonomous driving subsidiary of General Motors, had taken adequate measures to ensure pedestrian safety.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched the probe in October 2023, citing five incidents where Cruise’s self-driving taxis collided with pedestrians, resulting in injuries to three individuals. According to the NHTSA, Cruise’s autonomous vehicles failed to avoid these collisions effectively.

Additionally, the NHTSA expressed concern over two other incidents where Cruise vehicles were operating near pedestrians crossing the road.
Upon concluding the investigation, the NHTSA mentioned Cruise’s recall in November 2023 and stated that General Motors had decided to halt Cruise’s operations. Currently, none of Cruise’s autonomous vehicles are operating on public roads.
In December 2023, General Motors declared that it would discontinue the development of Cruise’s self-driving taxis and withdraw funding for the project. Since 2016, General Motors had invested over $10 billion in Cruise, which will now be integrated into the company’s driver assistance technology department.
Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed that Cruise failed to report a San Francisco incident in October 2023, where a Cruise autonomous taxi collided with and dragged a pedestrian for approximately 20 feet (about 6.1 meters). Notably, the pedestrian had been hit by another vehicle prior to the Cruise incident. General Motors compensated the victim, a female, with a significant settlement.
Following the 2023 incident, General Motors also announced its decision to suspend the development of Cruise’s fully autonomous taxis without steering wheels or other manual controls. Moreover, the company implemented widespread layoffs, including the dismissal of several senior executives, affecting more than a quarter of its staff.