GM’s Cruise accepts Quinn Emanuel’s conclusions on October 2 incident

GM’s Cruise said it is releasing the Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan report regarding the October 2, 2023 incident in San Francisco and Cruise’s subsequent interactions with regulators and the media. “The Quinn Emanuel report makes important findings, conclusions, and recommendations regarding these events, which arose from an incident in which a hit-and-run driver tragically struck a pedestrian and launched her into the lane of travel of a Cruise AV, which unavoidably struck her,” the company said. “The Cruise AV, determining the collision to be a side impact with the pedestrian rather than frontal, pulled forward approximately 20 feet and dragged the individual in the process. This sequence of events caused serious injury. The hearts of all Cruise employees continue to be with the pedestrian and we hope for her ongoing recovery. On October 24, 2023, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) suspended Cruise’s driverless permit, stating in part that Cruise failed to disclose in a meeting on the morning after the incident that the Cruise AV had pulled forward after the initial impact and dragged the pedestrian. Following suspension of the permit and review of the DMV’s order, as previously announced, Cruise retained the law firm Quinn Emanuel to conduct a third-party review into the events of October 2 and Cruise’s subsequent interactions with regulators and the media. Cruise also hired the engineering consulting firm Exponent Inc. to conduct a root cause analysis of the October 2 incident. We are now making public the full Quinn Emanuel report and a cover letter sent to regulators. Understanding exactly where Cruise fell short will help both Cruise and the industry learn from the incident, strengthen protocols, and improve technology.” Cruise said it accepts Quinn Emanuel’s conclusions and will act on all of their recommendations. “We acknowledge that we have failed to live up to the justifiable expectations of regulators and the communities we serve,” the company noted. “In doing so, we also fell woefully short of our own expectations. We are profoundly remorseful both for the injuries to the pedestrian, as well as for breaching the trust of our regulators, the media, and the public. We are fully cooperating with the state and federal regulatory and enforcement agencies which have opened investigations or inquiries in connection with the incident, including the California DMV, the California Public Utilities Commission, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.”