U.S. regulators have initiated an investigation into the Amazon self-driving subsidiary Zoox, prompted by reports of two separate accidents involving the company’s vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a preliminary evaluation into the Zoox Automated Driving System (ADS) after the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) was notified of incidents involving Toyota Highlander units operating the software. In both cases, the Highlanders unexpectedly braked, resulting in rear-end collisions and causing minor injuries to motorcyclists. The ODI has confirmed that the vehicles were in autonomous mode at the time of the collisions, and the investigation will focus on approximately 500 Zoox Highlander units and evaluate the reported accidents.
Additionally, the investigation will examine the software’s behavior in crosswalks around pedestrians and similar situations to the accidents. The accidents occurred last month, with one in Spring Valley, Nevada, and the other in San Francisco, California. The full ODI report, in which the opening of a preliminary investigation was approved, is available below. [Tesla has ‘no chance’ to achieve Full Self-Driving next year, claims Zoox co-founder] *What are your thoughts?