General Motors’ driverless susidiary Cruise is being accused of covering up the severity of a crash involving one of its driverless cars.

The Guardian reports the California Public Utilities Commission has summoned the company to a hearing in February that could lead to a $1.5m (£1.2m) fine on top of the current suspension to its licence to operate in the state.

The notice orders Cruise to appear at an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the robotaxi service misled regulators about what happened after one of its driverless cars ran into a pedestrian who had already been struck by another vehicle driven by a human on the evening of 2 October in San Francisco.

The issue has already seen Cruise suspend all operations across the US, and the resignation of its co-founder and CEO.

(Picture – Cruise)