NHTSA Opens Investigation into Crashes of Waymo’s Self-Driving Vehicles

The U.S. government’s highway safety agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has launched a new investigation into crashes involving Waymo’s self-driving vehicles. This comes after the agency received 22 reports of Waymo vehicles crashing or potentially violating traffic laws.

The NHTSA posted documents outlining the probe on its website, revealing that 17 crashes and five potential traffic law violations involving Waymo vehicles have been reported. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in these incidents.

Waymo, which was once known as Google’s self-driving vehicle unit, stated that it values road safety and will continue to work closely with the agency to ensure the safety of its autonomous driving systems. The company highlighted its strong safety record, with over tens of millions of autonomous miles driven.

Despite this, some experts, such as Michael Brooks from the Center for Auto Safety, have raised concerns about the readiness of autonomous vehicles for public roads. The NHTSA’s recent actions, including investigations into other self-driving systems from companies like Tesla and Ford, suggest a more proactive approach to regulating these technologies.

The investigation into Waymo’s fifth-generation driving system will focus on its performance in detecting and responding to traffic control devices, as well as its ability to avoid collisions with stationary objects and vehicles. The agency will also examine any commonalities among the reported incidents to determine the root causes of these crashes.

This investigation is part of a larger effort by the NHTSA to improve the safety of autonomous vehicles and partially automated driving systems. The agency has been pushing companies to report all crashes involving these technologies and has taken steps to set performance standards for features like automatic emergency braking.

The outcome of the investigation into Waymo’s self-driving vehicles, as well as the broader regulatory approach to automated driving systems, will have significant implications for the future of autonomous vehicles on public roads.