- Two Zoox cars were recently rear-ended by motorcyclists after braking suddenly.
- Self-driving prototypes have come under increased scrutiny in the U.S. after recent incidents.
- The preliminary evaluation involves 500 vehicles operated by Zoox.
Zoox has been asked to provide the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) with additional information about recent crashes involving its self-driving prototypes.
Last month, the NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation into Zoox after receiving two reports about accidents involving Toyota Highlander test vehicles. In both cases, the Highlanders unexpectedly braked and were rear-ended by motorcyclists.
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The NHTSA has now requested video footage of the crashes and new documents from Zoox related to the vehicles. The safety agency says it “is concerned that vehicles exhibiting unexpected rapid braking may increase the risk of crash” and believes the “risk is particularly acute to road users behind the Zoox vehicles who are unable to reasonably anticipate or react to the unexpected sudden braking.”
Reuters reports the preliminary evaluation involves 500 vehicles being tested by Zoox. The company, which was purchased by Amazon for $1.3 billion in 2020, recently expanded its vehicle testing in California and Nevada to a wider area while also including higher speeds and nighttime driving.
The NHTSA’s probe aims to assess the performance of Zoox’s autonomous driving system “particularly relating to the collisions listed in this resume, the behavior in crosswalks around vulnerable road users, and in other similar rear-end collision scenarios.”
In a statement issued last month after the probe was first announced, Zoox said it was “committed to working closely with NHTSA to answer their questions.” The company added its team was “reviewing the request for information as part of NHTSA’s preliminary evaluation.” Zoox also said that “transparency and collaboration with regulators is of the utmost importance.”
Zoox isn’t the only company with its self-driving system under the spotlight. Last week, the NHTSA expanded a probe into Waymo’s robotaxis after learning of nine additional incidents.
