GM Cruise automated cars are under federal investigation for hard braking, stranding passengers

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into General Motors' self-driving robotaxis, Cruise. The investigation is a result of incidents where the vehicles have a tendency to "engage in inappropriately hard braking or become immobilized while operating," according to the NHTSA. 

The NHTSA's filing says they received three reports of the Cruise vehicle hard braking in response to another car approaching from the rear, each resulting in a rear-end collision. The filing also mentions that there was a human supervisor in the automated vehicle in each crash.

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The number of instances in which the Cruise vehicle became immobilized on the road is unspecified for now, but the NHTSA says that there were no human supervisors in the Cruise in these instances.

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The filing states that when Cruise vehicles are immobilized, passengers risk being stranded in unsafe conditions, becoming an "unexpected obstacle to other road users", and can cause other drivers to make dangerous maneuvers to avoid striking the Cruise.

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