Amazon-owned Zoox announced a recall Tuesday because its autonomous driving system caused vehicles to cross the center lane or block crosswalks at intersections. The voluntary recall of the software affected 332 vehicles, according to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
While there have been no collisions related to the problem, Zoox noted in the NHTSA filing that it could increase the risk of a crash. The company offers free rides to the public in its Zoox driverless vehicles in parts of San Francisco and Las Vegas.
A spokesperson for Zoox told TechCrunch that the company has identified some instances in which its vehicles made maneuvers that, while common for human drivers, did not meet standards. For example, in an effort to avoid blocking certain intersections at red lights, the robotaxi can stop at a zebra crossing. In other cases, the robotaxi made a late turn, resulting in a wide turn, according to an emailed statement from a spokesperson.
The problem was first discovered on August 26 when a Zoox robotaxi made a wide right turn, partially crossed into the opposite lane and temporarily stopped in front of the oncoming lane, according to the NHTSA filing.
Zoox checked its data for additional lane crossings near intersections and ultimately identified 62 cases between August 26 and December 5. The company said in the filing that it was in “ongoing discussions with NHTSA regarding the frequency, severity and root causes of these events.”
The company updated its software on November 7 and again in mid-December to fix all the issues.
“We have successfully identified and implemented targeted software improvements to address the root causes of these incidents,” the statement read. “Today we are filing a voluntary software recall because transparency and security are fundamental to Zoox, and we want to be open with the public and regulators about how we continually refine and improve our technology.”
According to the filing, the recall affected Zoox vehicles operated on public roads between March 13 and December 18.
Zoox has issued several software recalls this year, including one in March to address unexpected hard braking. That recall followed a preliminary investigation by NHTSA that was opened after the agency received two reports of motorcyclists colliding with the rears of Zoox vehicles.
In May, Zoox issued two software recalls to address concerns about the system’s ability to predict the movements of other road users.
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