Zoox, a subsidiary of Amazon, the largest e-commerce company in the U.S., said it has carried out a software recall to improve problems after last month’s crash.
Zoox announced on its website on the 6th that it has “proceeded a voluntary software recall.”
“It is essential to maintain transparency as part of our commitment to safety,” the company said. “After evaluating internal data, we decided to voluntarily recall and submit a safety recall report to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).”
According to a recall report by zoox, a Juks Robo (unmanned) taxi vehicle operating with self-driving software collided with another car in Las Vegas on the 8th of last month.
There were no casualties in the accident at the time, and both vehicles suffered only minor damage, the company said.
The accident occurred when another passenger car approached quickly to the lane where zoox’ robotaxi was driving. The company explained that the robotaxi slowed down and turned to the right because the passenger car was expected to move forward, but contrary to the prediction of the robotaxi, the passenger car stopped moving forward and collided with each other.
“In certain driving scenarios, zoox can make inaccurate predictions when other vehicles approach and stop,” NHTSA said. “In these scenarios, collisions will not be avoided.”
The number of vehicles subject to the recall is 270 self-driving cars of zoox.
“Through analysis and rigorous testing, we have identified the root cause and distributed software updates to all Jukes vehicles,” the company said.
zoox has been testing robo-taxi in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle, Austin and Miami.
Even before the accident last month, NHTSA investigated the zoox self-driving car due to an unexpected sudden braking and an accident in which a motorcycle that was following collided with the vehicle.
Amazon acquired ZOOX for $1.2 billion in September 2020 and has been developing electric vehicles and autonomous driving systems for robotaxi services.
JENNIFER KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
