Self-driving cars: US Department of Transportation expands Waymo investigation
The US traffic authority NHTSA is expanding its investigation into Google's self-driving Waymo robotaxis. The reason is new road safety violations.
Driving in the lane of oncoming traffic, collisions with parked cars and other stationary objects, driving into unpaved construction zones and disregarding traffic regulations have once again called the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to action. The NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI), which is also responsible for recalls in the event of vehicle problems, is requesting detailed information on every incident involving Google subsidiary Waymo's self-driving cars, including video footage, according to a letter that has now been published.
Concerns about accident risk
The ODI stated that it was concerned "that vehicles equipped with the Automated Driving System (ADS) could exhibit such unexpected driving behavior and increase the risk of accidents, property damage and injuries". Some of the incidents were discovered through publicly available information, such as on the short message service X.
The recently announced investigation into 22 incidents will therefore be expanded to include nine further similar cases. According to the letter from the NHTSA, the investigation is specifically concerned with vehicles equipped with the fifth-generation ADS. 17 Waymo robotaxis had collided with parked cars, gates or chains, for example, and in five cases the vehicles had driven into the busy lanes of oncoming traffic when overtaking weaker road users or merging into traffic.
The fact that the objects involved in the collisions were "clearly visible objects" is apparently also problematic for the ODI. A knowledgeable driver would have been expected to avoid these collisions, according to the NHTSA letter (PDF).
Significant fines
Waymo is now required to provide the VIN, the full system configuration of each ADS including the hardware and software used, a brief explanation of the decision made by the ADS that led to a collision or possible traffic violation and all videos for reportable incidents - starting 30 seconds before the incident until its end, but at least 30 seconds after the incident.
Information on a possible remote intervention should also be provided. The required information must be received by the ODI by June 11, 2024, otherwise fines "of up to USD 27,168 per violation per day, with a maximum amount of USD 135,828,178" may be imposed.
Waymo announces cooperation
Waymo will cooperate with the NHTSA, the company has announced. However, the company also explained that its own robotaxis now complete more than 50,000 journeys per week and that it is proud of the associated safety statistics.
In addition to the investigations into Waymo, whose autonomous vehicles are on the road in Phoenix (Arizona), San Francisco and Los Angeles, the NHTSA also launched investigations into Zoox, the robot car company belonging to Amazon. Zoox test cars are said to have caused two rear-end collisions due to a braking maneuver that was triggered unexpectedly.
(bme)