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Cruise, a prominent autonomous vehicle (AV) company, has publicly released the Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan report detailing findings about the October 2, 2023, incident in San Francisco. The report addresses Cruise’s interactions with regulators and the media following the unfortunate event where a hit-and-run driver struck a pedestrian, who was then unavoidably hit by a Cruise AV.
The incident led to the suspension of Cruise’s driverless permits by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) on October 24, 2023. The suspension stemmed from Cruise’s failure to disclose certain details of the incident during initial meetings with regulators. In response, Cruise engaged Quinn Emanuel for an independent review and Exponent Inc. for a technical analysis of the event.
See also: Teamsters Demand Cruise Release Report on SF Accident
The comprehensive Quinn Emanuel review involved interviews with 88 Cruise employees and contractors, along with an examination of over 200,000 internal documents. The report concluded that there was no evidence of Cruise leadership intentionally deceiving regulators. It highlighted that Cruise attempted to share a video of the incident in meetings, which unfortunately suffered from transmission issues, leading to a lack of clarity about the incident’s specifics.
Key findings from the review include Cruise’s initial unawareness of the AV’s action of dragging the pedestrian post-collision, and a later failure to update the press and regulators with complete information. This lapse was attributed to a focus on correcting media narratives and internal communication breakdowns.
In Quinn Emanuel’s words, the reasons for Cruise’s failures included “poor leadership, mistakes in judgment, lack of coordination, and a misunderstanding of regulatory requirements.” Despite these shortcomings, the report noted that Cruise did not intentionally mislead regulators.
Cruise’s response to these findings has been to acknowledge their shortcomings and commit to implementing all of Quinn Emanuel’s recommendations. This includes significant personnel changes, the establishment of a new Chief Safety Officer role, and operational improvements.
Furthermore, a redacted version of the Exponent report, included in the Quinn Emanuel document, identified the technical causes of the AV’s behavior during the incident. It found that the AV misclassified the collision, leading to an inappropriate response. Cruise has since updated its software to address these issues.
Cruise emphasizes its commitment to safety and transparency and acknowledges the need to regain public trust. The company continues to focus on advancing AV technology and improving road safety, a mission driven by the potential of AVs to significantly reduce traffic-related fatalities.
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