The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into self-driving car manufacturers Waymo and Zoox this week, alleging that the driverless vehicles have been violating traffic laws and causing collisions.
According to the agency, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) “has received reports of 22 incidents involving Waymo vehicles equipped with Waymo’s 5th generation automated driving system (ADS).” These incidents reportedly include 17 collision with fences and parked cars (with no reported injuries), as well as “instances in which the ADS appeared to disobey traffic safety control devices.” The NHTSA also reports that self-driving cars have been observed “driving in opposing lanes with nearby oncoming traffic or entering construction zones.”
The ODI’s inquiry into the two companies will determine whether the accidents have been caused by manufacturing issues and, if so, recommend necessary updates to the vehicles. This is a preliminary step before a full recall is issued.
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Earlier this year, Waymo, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet, recalled more than 400 vehicles after multiple crashes in Arizona, and a video recorded in the state last week showed a Waymo taxi driving into oncoming traffic on a crowded street.
Waymo mainly relies on machine learning to “interpret complex object and scene semantics,” and a statement from the company admitted that their programs still need to be updated to account for unpredictable road conditions.
Amazon-owned Zoox has experienced similar issues since releasing its autonomous vehicles onto the streets.
“Transparency and collaboration with regulators is of the utmost importance, and we remain committed to working closely with NHTSA to answer their questions,” a statement from Zoox said.
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Despite the recent issues, Waymo maintains that its vehicles are actually less accident-prone than human drivers, and a spokesperson said that the company is proud of its safety record.
“At Waymo, we currently serve over 50,000 weekly trips for our riders in some of the most challenging and complex environments,” a statement from Waymo said. “We are proud of our performance and safety record over tens of millions of autonomous miles driven, as well as our demonstrated commitment to safety transparency. NHTSA plays a very important role in road safety, and we will continue to work with them as part of our mission to become the world’s most trusted driver.”
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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