Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company Zoox has announced its second voluntary software recall within just a month. This comes after one of its robotaxis collided with an e-scooter rider in San Francisco on May 8.
According to Zoox, the incident involved an empty robotaxi moving slowly. The vehicle had braked to yield at an intersection when the e-scooter hit it.
This isn’t the first time Zoox has faced such issues recently. Just a few weeks earlier, the company recalled about 270 vehicles after a crash in Las Vegas between a Zoox robotaxi and a passenger car. That accident raised questions about how well Zoox’s self-driving software can predict the actions of other road users — and clearly, that remains a concern.
In a statement about the May 8 crash, Zoox said, “The Zoox vehicle was stopped at the time of contact. The e-scooterist fell to the ground right next to the vehicle. The robotaxi then started moving and stopped after completing the turn but did not make any further contact.”
The e-scooter rider refused medical attention despite minor injuries, Zoox added.
Zoox also shared video footage and relevant information with regulators. The company has already released a software update aimed at improving how its cars track nearby pedestrians and riders, and to prevent the vehicle from moving when someone vulnerable is close by.
Why is this important? A robotaxi that moves after a collision could cause more harm to people involved. Just look at Cruise, a competitor backed by GM — one of their robotaxis hit a pedestrian who had been pushed into its path by another car, then dragged the pedestrian about 20 feet while trying to pull over. That incident seriously hurt Cruise’s business.
TechCrunch has asked Zoox if concerns like this were behind the latest recall, or if other factors, like unexpected hard braking, played a role.
Earlier this year, in March, Zoox recalled 258 vehicles due to problems causing unexpected hard braking. That came after reports of motorcyclists crashing into the backs of Zoox test vehicles.
So far, Zoox has not responded with details about how many cars this new recall affects or how the new software update differs from the one issued a few weeks ago.
TechCrunch is also reaching out to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for more information on the recall.
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