GM robotaxi unit Cruise offers $75,000 to resolve crash probe

General Motors' Cruise robotaxi unit offered on Friday to pay $75,000 to resolve an investigation by California regulators into its failure to disclose details of a pedestrian crash involving a self-driving car, reports Reuters.
In December, the California Public Utilities Commission ordered Cruise to appear at a Feb. 6 hearing, citing it for misleading the commission "through omission" on the extent and seriousness of the accident and for "misleading public comments" on interactions with the agency.
Cruise, which has fired nine executives, including its chief operating officer and chief legal and policy officer, over the October crash, asked for the hearing to be deferred and sought an alternative mode of dispute resolution.
Cruise, which has retained law firm Quinn Emanuel to examine its response to the crash, said in a filing on Friday the investigation was expected to be completed with findings made public before Feb. 6. Cruise also offered to boost its reporting of collisions to the commission as part of its settlement offer.
Cruise said it "is committed to undertaking significant process improvements with respect to its interactions with regulators" and "committed to increased transparency, cooperation, and rebuilding regulatory trust with the commission."
The robotaxi company pulled all its US vehicles from self-driving testing after California suspended its driverless testing permit following the October accident. The unit's CEO Kyle Vogt and co-founder Dan Kan resigned in November.
Cruise said in December it was cutting 24 per cent of its workforce, laying off 900 of its 3,800 employees.
On Oct. 2, a pedestrian hit by another vehicle was thrown into the path of a self-driving Cruise vehicle and dragged for 20 feet (6 meters). California suspended the testing permit, and Cruise halted all U.S. testing operations.