The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating the Amazon-owned self-driving car company Zoox for crashes involving its technology.

The safety agency said on Friday it had received two notices of the company's retrofit vehicles unexpectedly and suddenly braking, causing rear-end crashes.

What You Need To Know

  • The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating the Amazon-owned self-driving car company, Zoox

  • Two Zoox vehicles unexpectedly and suddenly applied the brakes, causing rear-end crashes

  • Both crashes involved Toyota Highlander vehicles equipped with Zoox automated driving equipment

  • Zoox also operates fully autonomous robotaxi vehicles in Foster City, Calif., and Las Vegas

The crashes involved Toyota Highlander vehicles equipped with Zoox automated driving system equipment. In both incidents, a motorcycle was following the vehicle and collided into the Highlander, resulting in minor injuries, NHTSA said.

Both crashes happened during the day while the automated driving system was activated. The vehicles each had human safety drivers behind the wheel, Zoox said.

“Our team is currently reviewing the request for information as part of NHTSA’s preliminary evaluation,” a Zoox spokesperson told Spectrum News. “We do not have additional details to share at this time. Transparency and collaboration with regulators is of the utmost importance, and we remain committed to working closely with NHTSA to answer their questions.”

The spokesperson said the evaluation pertains to vehicles Zoox retrofitted with its sensors and other autonomous driving technology, not its purpose-built robotaxi. Its fleet of retrofit vehicles always has a human safety driver behind the wheel. Its purpose-built robotaxi does not have traditional driving controls, such as a brake pedal or steering wheel.

Based in Foster City, Calif., Zoox currently operates its test fleet in California, Nevada and Washington and its robotaxis in Foster City, Calif., and Las Vegas.

NHTSA said it is evaluating the Zoox self-driving system’s performance, especially related to how it performs in crosswalks around pedestrians and other vulnerable road users, as well as rear-end collisions.

The evaluation comes about seven months after a self-driving vehicle operated by the General Motors subsidiary Cruise struck a pedestrian in San Francisco and dragged her to the curb, causing serious injuries. The incident prompted Cruise to temporarily suspend operations and recall its vehicles for updates.