Autonomous vehicles companies, such as Waymo and Zoox, have landed in hot water over potential defects, but in Foster City, where Zoox is based and has operated for several years, safety concerns seem to be few and far between.
Both the Amazon subsidiary and Mountain View-based Waymo are now the subjects of investigation initiated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The former is being looked into after two of its vehicles braked suddenly and were rear-ended by motorcyclists in San Francisco and Nevada, and Waymo is being probed after similar occurrences.
Most of the major AV firms have faced some type of backlash over the past year, with Cruise having to pull their cars off the road following a San Francisco incident that left a woman badly injured. And Waymo’s recently announced expansion of driverless vehicles to San Mateo County was met with strong pushback from elected officials, including the Board of Supervisors, who have claimed there are not enough mandated reporting and safety requirements in place for the companies.
But Foster City Police Capt. Cory Call said law enforcement hasn’t seen an uptick in safety or collision calls related to the Zoox cars in his jurisdiction.
“We really don’t hear anything about them from anybody unless they’re inquiring about their operation in general, but there isn’t much concern from any group that’s been expressed,” Call said. “Overall, I think it’s been as positive as we could’ve asked for. It’s not on our radar as a big issue.”
Zoox began deploying its self-driving taxis for employee use beginning early last year, and since then, Department of Motor Vehicles data show the cars have been involved in two incidents in Foster City so far this year. An April report described the Zoox vehicle driving over a utility valve box, which resulted in vehicle damage but no injuries or impacts to other cars. Another occurred in March when someone rear-ended a Zoox vehicle while it was stopped at a red light, with the report suggesting the incident was caused by the non-AV driver.
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Call said the company has maintained regular communication with the Police Department since it laid roots in the city around 2018.
“We communicate with them off and on for various reasons. They have developed training that they have provided to us as far as how their vehicles operate, safety features and how we access certain parts of the vehicle if needed,” he said.
The design of Zoox robotaxis are unique from other cars and even other AVs, such as Waymo, as they don’t have steering wheels or pedals, and the interior is composed of two benches facing each other.
According to DMV data, about 32 collisions have occurred involving all autonomous vehicles throughout California so far this year.
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