Alphabet's Waymo investigation expanded after further robocar incidents

The U.S. top auto safety regulator has expanded its investigation into Waymo, Alphabet Inc.’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary, after finding more incidents in which the company’s cars were involved in collisions or may have violated traffic laws.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation told Waymo in a letter that it had identified nine other incidents with a similar pattern since it began a preliminary evaluation on May 13. Seventeen Waymo vehicles reportedly crashed into objects such as gates, chains and parked cars. The agency also cited five cases in which the automated driving system appeared to violate traffic laws, such as driving in the opposite lane when oncoming traffic was close.

In the letter, which is dated May 23 but was not posted on the agency’s website until Friday, NHTSA said some of Waymo’s new incidents were reported under a 2021 standing order that requires automakers to notify regulators of all crashes involving automated driving systems. The agency said some of the other new incidents were identified by regulators who reviewed publicly available information.

The defect authority expressed “concerns that vehicles equipped with ADS that exhibit such unexpected driving behavior could increase the risk of accidents and property damage and personal injury.”

Waymo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Road safety authorities are increasingly scrutinizing driver assistance systems and more advanced autonomous vehicles. In addition to the ongoing Waymo investigation, investigations have recently been launched into Tesla’s Autopilot, Ford’s BlueCruise and Amazon’s Zoox.

The NHTSA also launched an investigation in October into possible flaws in the automated driving system developed by Cruise, the subsidiary of General Motors. Cruise agreed to a settlement of more than $8 million with the US highway company after one of its vehicles struck and dragged a pedestrian.

Was this article valuable?

Here are other articles you might like.