GM's robotaxi unit Cruise's autonomous vehicles under safety scanner

US auto safety regulators have opened a formal safety probe into the autonomous driving system in vehicles produced by General Motors Co's robotaxi unit Cruise LLC. The safety investigation was launched after reports of two injuries in rear-end crashes were notified to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The reports highlighted that the self-driving Cruise vehicles involved in the accident "may engage in inappropriately hard braking or become immobilized."

While both the issues appeared to be distinct, they each result in the Cruise vehicles becoming unexpected roadway obstacles. In its preliminary investigation, the safety is covering 242 Cruise autonomous vehicles, which could also result in a recall at a later stage.

The investigation follows reports of three crashes in which Cruise vehicles were struck from behind by other vehicles after the autonomous vehicles braked quickly.

At present, Cruise offers limited service in San Francisco with a small fleet of Chevrolet Bolt EVs. The company recently secured the first of the two California permits it needs to charge riders for a trip, night and day across all of San Francisco, where it currently sells trips in a small part of the city.

Separately, Cruise claims that it has already 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 in a statement.

The safety regulator plans to fully assess the potential safety-related issues posed by these two types of incidents and has said that it will review "the commonality and safety logic of the hard braking incidents".