By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Wednesday it is seeking additional details about a series of incidents raising concerns about the performance of Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:) Waymo self-driving vehicles.
In May, the U.S. auto safety regulator opened an investigation after receiving 22 reports of the company’s robotaxis exhibiting driving behavior that may have violated highway safety laws or other “unexpected behavior,” including 17 collisions.
NHTSA said several incidents “involved collisions with clearly visible objects that a competent driver would be expected to avoid.”
The agency said Wednesday that Waymo must respond to a series of detailed questions by Aug. 6, including extensive details of all public road travel by the company’s self-driving vehicles. It wants to know if any of the vehicles have been grounded and if any tests or updates have been carried out to address specific incidents.
NHTSA said that “reports include collisions with stationary and semi-stationary objects such as fences and chains, collisions with parked vehicles, and instances where the (automated driving system) appeared to ignore road safety controls.”
Waymo, which did not immediately comment, said earlier this month that it was “proud of our performance and safety record over tens of millions of autonomously driven miles.”
NHTSA said it is concerned that Waymo self-driving vehicles “exhibit such unexpected driving behavior that could increase the risk of crashes, property damage and injuries” and added that many incidents occurred near other road users, including pedestrians.
This is the latest in a series of NHTSA investigations into the performance of self-driving vehicles after it opened investigations into General Motors (NYSE:) Cruise and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:)’s Zoox.
The Waymo investigation is the first stage before the agency can order a recall if it believes the vehicles pose an unreasonable risk to safety.
In February, Waymo recalled 444 self-driving vehicles after two minor collisions in quick succession in Arizona, saying a software bug could cause automated vehicles to inaccurately predict the movement of a towed vehicle.
