DETROIT — The board of Cruise, the robo-taxi company controlled by General Motors, has hired an outdoor law firm and technology consultants within the aftermath of an accident that led it to suspend all driverless vehicle operations, Cruise said Friday.
Cruise’s board has hired law firm Quinn Emanuel to review Cruise management’s responses to regulators investigating the Oct. 2 accident, and technology consultancy Exponent to review Cruise’s technology. The Cruise board’s actions were first reported Friday by the Recent York Times.
GM, in an announcement Friday, said “we fully support the actions that Cruise leadership is taking to make sure that it’s putting safety first and constructing trust and credibility with government partners, regulators, and the broader community. Our commitment to Cruise with the goal of commercialization stays steadfast.”
Federal and state safety regulators are investigating a series of accidents involving driverless Cruise vehicles. California regulators suspended the corporate’s license to operate driverless vehicles last month, saying the self-driving vehicles were a risk to the general public.
California regulators said Cruise officials had misrepresented details about an accident through which a Cruise automotive struck a pedestrian after she had been hit by a vehicle operated by a human driver. It got here to light that the Cruise vehicle, in following its programming to drag over after an accident, then dragged the pedestrian 20 feet.
Federal regulators last month told Cruise they’re investigating incidents through which Cruise driverless cars appeared to fail to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had previously opened an investigation into incidents through which Cruise cars were struck from behind.
Cruise said last week it might pause all driverless operations “while we take time to look at our processes, systems, and tools.”
GM Chief Executive Mary Barra, who also sits on Cruise’s board, has told investors Cruise could generate $50 billion in revenue by 2030. The operation lost greater than $700 million within the third quarter of this 12 months because it has increased spending to expand operations to fifteen U.S. cities.
Cruise last month announced plans to start operations in Japan in partnership with Honda.
Barra said last week GM would disclose more about its plans for Cruise later this 12 months, and told analysts “rest assured, we do have funding plans that may support Cruise’s expansion.”
This Article First Appeared At www.autoblog.com
