Amazon’s ambitions in the autonomous vehicle space have hit a speed bump. Apparently.
The e-commerce giant’s self-driving subsidiary Zoox is now under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) after a pair of rear-end collisions involving its test vehicles.
According to the NHTSA, the federal auto safety regulator has opened a preliminary evaluation into an estimated 500 Zoox vehicles following two separate incidents where Zoox’s self-driving vehicles suddenly braked unexpectedly on public roads.
In both cases, the Zoox vehicles were rear-ended by motorcyclists who suffered minor injuries.
The fact that the NHTSA has confirmed the Zoox vehicles were operating in fully autonomous mode at the time of the collisions is cause for concern.
Self-Driving Safety
The whole premise of self-driving technology is to increase road safety by removing the possibility of human error. If the vehicles are slamming on the brakes for no apparent reason, that calls into question the reliability of Zoox’s autonomous systems.
For a company like Amazon that has invested heavily in cutting-edge technologies like autonomous driving, drone delivery, and advanced robotics as part of its future innovation roadmap, having one of its self-driving vehicle initiatives placed under federal scrutiny is an undesirable look.
It potentially casts doubt on the capabilities and safety of Zoox’s tech if the investigation ultimately finds flaws or deficiencies.
The NHTSA probe is still in its very early stages as a preliminary evaluation. But the fact that the regulator has decided to take a closer look speaks to the severity of the rear-end collision incidents. We’ve seen the NHTSA ramp up its oversight of self-driving vehicles in recent months, having launched investigations into systems from Tesla, Ford, and General Motors as well.
As autonomous driving continues inching closer to broad public deployment, federal regulators are keeping a watchful eye to ensure the technology is being advanced responsibly and without unnecessarily putting motorists at risk. Any evidence of major safety flaws or unresolved issues could slam the brakes on a company’s self-driving efforts.
