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Waymo ’s autonomous fomite software is under investigation after federal regulators received 22 reports of the robotaxis crash or potentially violate dealings safety law by driving in the wrong lane or into construction zona .
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ’s Office of Defects Investigation ( ODI)says the probeis mean to value the software and its power to avoid collisions with stationary target , and how well it detects and responds to “ traffic safety dominance devices ” like cone . The probe is designate as a “ preliminary evaluation , ” which the ODI essay to adjudicate within eight months .
“ NHTSA plays a very important part in road refuge and we will continue to work with them as part of our mission to become the worldly concern ’s most trusted driver , ” Waymo say in a statement to TechCrunch .
It ’s the 2d investigation into self-reliant vehicles that ODI has publicly announce in the last two days . On Monday , ODIopened a probeinto Amazon - back up Zoox ’s Ab after receiving two reports of the society ’s independent - fit Toyota Highlanders being rear - ended by motorcycles after the SUVs unexpectedly triggered the brake .
The investigation into Waymo ’s software also get along just three months after Waymo issued its first - ever recall of its autonomous software , aftertwo of its vehicle crashedinto the same towed pickup motortruck in Phoenix , Arizona .
The company ’s robotaxis have hadenough trouble with grammatical construction sitesthat videos of these mishap have on a regular basis gone viral . Some of these are cited in ODI ’s write up , like when one of Waymo ’s robotaxis tug off a paved roadway into a building zona in Phoenix last October and corroborate underbody damage .
There are more typical wing - benders cited , too . In San Francisco , California last class , one of Waymo ’s AVs was waiting to merge into dealings when it decided to re - route . As a result , one of its exterior sensor clipped an SUV . In a May incident in San Francisco , a Waymo AV ran into the bumper of a park railway car while trying to fulfill a “ pullover manoeuvre . ”
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Many of the crash cited in ODI ’s report , though , tend to cite more mundane encounter .
There are multiple example where Waymo ’s robotaxis had trouble navigating machinelike gates at parking complexes . At times , Waymo ’s AVs ram into the gates . In a February incident in Arizona , the Waymo AV encountered a closed gate and , when turning to leave the area , backed into parking spikes and pop up its tyre . In another from November , a Waymo AV crashed into a chain separating part of a parking raft .
While these are n’t lifetime - and - death scenarios , they help illustrate the hard — and hard - to - predict — corner cases that stand in the way of truly autonomous vehicles .
