General Motors' self-driving unit Cruise could face fines and sanctions over its failure to disclose details of an Oct. 2 accident in which a robotaxi dragged a pedestrian 20 feet (6.1 meters) after being struck by another vehicle, a California agency said.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Friday ordered Cruise to appear at a Feb. 6 show cause hearing for failing to provide complete information about the incident "and for making misleading public comments regarding its interactions with the commission." It also accused Cruise of "misleading the Commission through omission regarding the extent and seriousness of the October 2, 2023 incident."

On Oct. 3 Jose Alvarado, a senior manager of government at Cruise, telephoned commission analyst Ashlyn Kong and informed her of the collision. His description "omitted that the Cruise AV had engaged in the pullover maneuver which resulted in the pedestrian being dragged an additional 20 feet at 7 mph (11.27 km per hour)," the documents said, using the abbreviation AV for autonomous vehicle.

"Cruise is committed to rebuilding trust with our regulators and will respond in a timely manner to the CPUC," the company said in a statement.

California barred Cruise self-driving vehicles from public roads following the accident. Cruise has halted all U.S. testing and launched a safety review while its CEO Kyle Vogt and Chief Product Officer Daniel Kan have stepped down.

  - Reuters