If you lacked trust in robotaxis before, you’re certainly not going to have any now | Carscoops

      After logging over sixty incidents in just over three months, Zoox announced a recall 18 hours ago.

      The recall pertains to its robotaxis that were found to cross lane lines unnecessarily.

      The company documented 62 incidents during this short timeframe.

      There were no reported crashes, and all impacted vehicles received updates.

      Earlier this year, a study by AAA revealed that only 13% of people would feel safe riding in a self-driving vehicle. Most respondents expressed fear, and this latest recall is unlikely to ease their concerns.

      In fact, Amazon's Zoox has recalled 332 robotaxis due to their potential to “cross the yellow center line and drive into or stop in front of oncoming traffic.” This scenario poses a significant risk of collision.

      While no accidents have occurred, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated, “In certain circumstances, Zoox vehicles crossed the lane line unnecessarily at or near intersections.” Additionally, there were instances where the robotaxis halted in front of the lane of oncoming traffic.

      The issue came to light for the company on August 26, when a robotaxi made a wide right turn, entered the oncoming lane, and briefly stopped there.

      Zoox initiated an investigation and uncovered 62 instances of unnecessary lane line crossings between August 26 and December 5. During this period, the company actively worked to resolve the problem, releasing a software update on November 7 to tackle some of the incidents.

      Their efforts continued, leading to the creation of another software update earlier this month to address additional scenarios.

      Although the Safety Recall Report does not go into great detail, it noted that the company identified multiple root causes for the unnecessary lane line crossings, including “mislabeled double parked vehicles, unexpected routing changes, and poorly executed attempts to avoid obstructing cross traffic at intersections.”

      To remedy these issues, all Zoox vehicles operating on public roads received a new software update on December 19. This is expected to resolve the problem, but the company stated they will “continue to monitor field performance and make updates to enhance driving behavior.”