Federal regulators want more information from Zoox as part of an ongoing investigation into the Amazon subsidiary’s self-driving vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirmed in May that it was looking into two accidents involving Zoox AVs, reports IoT World Today.

On both occasions, a Toyota Highlander fitted with Zoox’s Automated Driving System braked unexpectedly, causing the SUVs to be rear-ended. 

A motorcyclist was involved in each instance, and the collisions happened in daylight hours, with the vehicles in autonomous mode.

Original documentation published about the investigation made clear that the NHTSA wanted to evaluate the Zoox ADS’ performance as well as its “behavior in crosswalks around vulnerable road users and in other similar rear-end collision scenarios.”

Now, in its effort to get to the bottom of what happened, the NHTSA has written to Zoox requesting a swathe of additional information, imposing a deadline of July 12 for its submission.

The letter, from the NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI), explains: “ODI is concerned that vehicles exhibiting unexpected rapid braking may increase the risk of crash, property damage, and injury. This risk is particularly acute to road users behind the Zoox vehicles who are unable to reasonably anticipate or react to the unexpected sudden braking.”

(Pic – Zoox)