National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Investigates Safety Concerns in GM's Autonomous Unit Cruise

General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) has reportedly found itself under the scrutiny of the U.S. auto safety regulators. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a probe into whether General Motors' self-driving unit Cruise has adhered to "sufficient precautions" with its autonomous vehicles to safeguard pedestrians, according to a news report by Reuters.

The NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation has logged two reports from Cruise concerning pedestrian injuries and identified two additional incidents from certain videos on public websites.

NHTSA said the reports include Cruise autonomous vehicles "encroaching on pedestrians present in or entering roadways, including pedestrian crosswalks, in the proximity of the intended path of the vehicles," as noted by Reuters.

"This could increase the risk of a collision with a pedestrian, which may result in severe injury or death," the agency added.

A spokesperson for Cruise told Reuters that the company communicates regularly with NHTSA and "has consistently cooperated with each of NHTSA's requests for information – whether associated with an investigation or not – and (plans) to continue doing so."

Earlier, Cruise had been under the scanner for a bus collision incident (300 vehicles were recalled after one of the driverless vehicles crashed into the back of a San Francisco bus).

The company was recently in the headlines after reports emerged that General Motors has at least 20 million vehicles with potentially explosive airbag parts.

In response, the NHTSA held a meeting to decide whether to order a recall of the airbag parts. General Motors stated that the investigation into the cause of the issue remains ongoing.

Price Action: GM shares are trading lower by 0.67% to $29.86 premarket on the last check Tuesday.