Autonomous driving keeps making headlines, and although it promises to revolutionize everything… there are still many steps to take before it becomes a reality (and the path, of course, is not going to be easy). Now, Amazon’s robotaxi, Zoox, has set off alarm bells and they have been forced to temporarily withdraw their entire fleet. What happened? An accident that has made the company reconsider everything. Is the future really here or do we just want it to arrive soon?
What is Zoox?
Zoox is a company of autonomous vehicles, that is, a company of robotaxis, like those of Tesla except this one belongs to Amazon. These Zoox vehicles have been designed exclusively to travel without a driver. It was founded in 2014 and Amazon acquired it in 2020, and it has created its own vehicles from scratch to prioritize safety and efficiency in close environments.
As you can see, the theory is very simple, and the goal of Zoox is to offer an autonomous transportation service with its own robotaxis, like an autonomous public transportation service, shared and adapted to the needs of the city.
But…
The accident that changed everything
It all happened last May 8 at an intersection in San Francisco. A cyclist on an electric scooter crashed at low speed into an empty robotaxi. Although the cyclist suffered only minor injuries, what was surprising was the reaction of the autonomous car: it started moving without anyone activating it and then stopped abruptly, without causing more damage.
This event caused Zoox to immediately suspend all road operations to analyze the incident and review their safety protocols, their goal is that an accident like this never happens again.
The company made it clear that safety is their top priority before continuing with public testing, so they have withdrawn the entire fleet of vehicles (270 units) from the streets.
What has changed in the software?
To prevent future problems, Zoox has launched a software update specifically designed to improve pedestrian detection and to prevent the vehicle from starting when someone is too close. According to the company, only in very rare circumstances could the robotaxis resume movement without detecting the presence of people nearby.
The update has already been implemented and has gone through a process of simulation and extensive testing, although the vehicles have not yet returned to the streets (much less with the possibility of purchase).
In addition, the fleet of 270 vehicles using this software has been subjected to a thorough review process by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), as is logical.
The trajectory of Zoox
As we mentioned, Zoox became part of Amazon in 2020, and in 2023 it began its first driverless tests on public roads in California and Nevada. Then, it expanded its horizons to Florida and Texas, reaching a test fleet that travels through cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, Austin, and Miami.
But they already had to issue a recall notice after, in April, the NHTSA closed an investigation into 258 vehicles because they had braking problems. So, they made software changes to keep the vehicles up to date.
The challenges of autonomous driving
Of course, all of this highlights how complicated it is going to be to reach a point where autonomous cars are a reality on the streets, especially in cities, where everything is more complex: there are pedestrians, there are pets, children on the streets, cyclists…. So real traffic poses dilemmas that must be observed very carefully and constantly so as not to put anyone at risk.
For many, Amazon’s bet on autonomous mobility remains a big step forward… But caution and transparency in cases like this will be key to building public trust and demonstrating that the future of transportation can be, in addition to comfortable, completely safe.
A small accident (no major damage) has been enough for Zoox to re-examine its safety standards much more meticulously… Are we facing the future of driving? Or are there still some steps to take before we can assume we can travel without drivers?!