Amazon’s self-driving subsidiary Zoox has agreed to recall 270 autonomous vehicles after one of its unoccupied robotaxis was involved in a crash with another vehicle in Las Vegas on April 8. Fortunately, there were no injuries reported in the incident.
The crash occurred when the Zoox robotaxi, anticipating that a passenger car would continue forward, slowed down and steered to the right. However, the passenger car came to a stop and yielded to the robotaxi, remaining stationary in the shoulder lane. Despite braking hard, the robotaxi was unable to avoid a collision with the passenger vehicle.
Cause of the Crash
Zoox attributed the crash to a software issue where its Automated Driving Systems made an inaccurate prediction about the other vehicle’s actions. Specifically, the problem arises when Zoox vehicles are traveling at speeds over 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) and another vehicle slowly approaches from a perpendicular direction and stops.
Software Update and Safety Measures
Following the incident, Zoox temporarily halted its operations for several days to conduct a safety review. During this time, the company developed and implemented a software update to address the issue identified in the crash.
This recent recall comes after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) closed a probe into 258 Zoox vehicles in April regarding a braking issue. Zoox had previously issued a software update to address this concern. The NHTSA had initiated the probe in May 2024 following two rear-end collisions involving Zoox vehicles that resulted in injuries to motorcyclists due to unexpected braking.
Ongoing Investigations
The NHTSA is also investigating Zoox’s self-certification in 2022 of a robotaxi without traditional driving controls, a probe that remains ongoing since its initiation in March 2023.
Zoox continues to test its robotaxis with employees as passengers, emphasizing its commitment to enhancing the safety and reliability of its autonomous driving technology.
