NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Preliminary Evaluation PE23-018: Automated Driving System
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Preliminary Evaluation PE23-018 on October 16, 2023 and closed it on January 14, 2025. NHTSA's investigations file lists the Cruise LLC ADS Software for it and links recall 23E-086 to it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- PE23-018 (also written PE23018)
- Investigation type
- Preliminary Evaluation The first stage of most defect investigations: NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation gathers basic information about a possible safety defect, including from the manufacturer.
- Status
- Closed January 14, 2025
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Cruise LLC
- Components
- Electrical System — ADAS — Autonomous/Self Driving; Electrical System — ADAS — Autonomous/Self Driving — Software
- Recall linked by NHTSA
- 23E-086 (NHTSA record)
- Vehicles and equipment
- Cruise LLC ADS Software
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Preliminary Evaluation PE23-018.
On October 16, 2023, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE23-018) to assess whether vehicles equipped with an Automated Driving System (ADS) manufactured and operated by Cruise LLC (Cruise) were exercising appropriate caution around pedestrians in the roadway after receiving 2 reports of crashes involving pedestrians under Standing General Order 2021-01 (SGO). ODI also identified 2 public reports of Cruise ADS-equipped vehicles encroaching on pedestrians present in crosswalks. On November 7, 2023, Cruise filed a safety recall (NHTSA Recall No. 23E-086) for a defect in its ADS software. Cruise described this recall as relating to the post-collision behavior of the ADS. Specifically, Cruise stated that "In certain circumstances, a collision may occur, after which the Collision Detection Subsystem may cause the Cruise AV to attempt to pull over out of traffic instead of remaining stationary when a pullover is not the desired post-collision response. This issue could occur after a collision with a pedestrian positioned low on the ground in the path of the AV.” The recalled software versions affected 950 vehicles that were operating with a driverless version of Cruise's ADS software. Furthermore, Cruise stated that “With the new update, the Cruise AV would have remained stationary during the October 2 incident” that was reported under the SGO (ID 30412-6395). ODI also analyzed data which included 2,759 reports identified by Cruise that involved the performance of the ADS with respect to avoiding collisions with pedestrians as well as more general behavior of the ADS after a collision. Of these, Cruise identified 1,113 reports that involved a pedestrian conflict. In total, 5 of those incidents involved a collision between a Cruise vehicle and a pedestrian, 3 of which resulted in injury. In each of the 5 pedestrian collision incidents the Cruise vehicle took avoiding action but was unable to avoid a collision. The recall action taken by Cruise is intended to address safety defects in the post-collision behavior of the ADS in such instances. Moreover, Cruise has since ceased business operations and no versions of its ADS are operating on public roads. As such, ODI is closing this Preliminary Evaluation. NHTSA reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by new circumstances. To review the SGO reports cited above, go to NHTSA.gov/laws-regulations/standing-general-order-crash-reporting. The SGO report ID numbers are provided below: SGO 2021-01 report ID: 30412-6175 SGO 2021-01 report ID: 30412-6395
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Preliminary Evaluation PE23-018. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
Cruise LLC
Cruise LLC ADS Software
- model year not given
What an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Free VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for PE23-018
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.