General Motors Co’ GM Cruise robotaxi division has reportedly terminated nine staff members, including its Chief Operating Officer Gil West, amid a safety investigation.
What Happened: The dismissals are connected to a safety probe that was initiated following an incident in San Francisco on October 2 in which a woman was struck and dragged by a Cruise vehicle, Reuters reported, citing a memo. Among those terminated are Chief Legal and Policy Officer Jeff Bleich and Senior Vice President of Government Affairs David Estrada, the report added.
In the incident on Oct. 2, a human-driven vehicle traveling adjacent to a Cruise AV collided with a pedestrian, sending the pedestrian across the vehicle and onto the ground in the path of the AV. The AV made contact with a pedestrian and pulled them forward by about 20 feet.
Cruise paused its autonomous vehicle operations in San Francisco in the same month following a directive from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). California DMV suspended Cruise’s autonomous vehicle deployment and driverless testing permits, citing “unreasonable risk” to public safety. The authority further alleged that the company misrepresented information on the safety of its autonomous technology.
Cruise's operations in Austin, Phoenix, and Houston were suspended a few days later. Early in November, the company announced that it is also pausing supervised and manual AV operations in the U.S., in a bid to rebuild public trust and undergo a full safety review. Company CEO Kyle Vogt also stepped down from his role last month.
The company might be fined and faced with other sanctions over alleged failure to disclose details of the pedestrian injury incident, the California Public Utilities Commission said earlier this month.
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