- Two Toyota Highlanders equipped with Zoox autonomous driving technology have been involved in accidents.
- In both cases, the vehicles suddenly stopped and were rear-ended by motorcyclists.
- Both incidents resulted in minor injuries and the government is now investigating.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is taking a closer look at Amazon-owned Zoox following two accidents that resulted in injuries. The timing couldn’t be worse as the company received its driverless AV Pilot permit from California officials in February and was gearing up for a public launch.
According to the government, the Office of Defects Investigation received two reports about accidents involving Toyota Highlanders equipped with Zoox’s autonomous driving technology. While the company’s futuristic robotaxi, the software was likely the same or similar.
More: Zoox Becomes First Company To Deploy Fully Autonomous Pod On Public Roads In Nevada
That makes it concerning as in both cases the Highlander “unexpectedly braked suddenly.” This caused rear-end collisions as the vehicles were hit by motorcyclists in both incidents. Minor injuries were reported in both crashes and the government says the “collisions occurred during daytime lighting conditions and within the Operational Design Domain of the Zoox ADS [Automated Driving System].”
Both Zoox vehicles were operating in autonomous mode leading up to the collision, so the Office of Defects Investigation has opened a preliminary evaluation. It aims to evaluate 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 to Automotive News, a Zoox spokesperson said “Our team is currently reviewing the request for information as part of NHTSA’s Preliminary Evaluation.” They added that “Transparency and collaboration with regulators is of the utmost importance, and we remain committed to working closely with NHTSA to answer their questions.”
That being said, the crashes are the latest blackeye for the autonomous driving industry and the news comes less than a year after a Cruise vehicle hit and dragged a pedestrian. Needless to say, accidents and injuries aren’t going to reassure an already skeptical public.
