US opens probe into startup Avride self-driving crashes in Texas

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) - ‌The National ​Highway Traffic ​Safety Administration said Friday it is opening an investigation into a series of crashes involving startup Avride's autonomous vehicles that raised ‌questions about their performance.

NHTSA said the vehicles' behavior may indicate excessive ⁠assertiveness and insufficient capability, which "may also constitute traffic safety violations". Some of the crashes resulted ‌in property damage and one ‌reported minor injury.

NHTSA said the vehicles had executed lane changes into other vehicles and failed to avoid vehicles or objects in the road, resulting ​in crashes.

NHTSA noted that Avride operates some of its AVs on Uber's platform and has offered passenger services in Dallas since December, where many ⁠of the incidents occurred. NHTSA cited 16 crashes of concern.

Avride said it welcomes "the opportunity to provide the agency ​with a deeper understanding of our safety protocols and technology." It added that in all cases "the vehicle was under the ​supervision of a trained safety operator on ‌board. In most cases, the vehicle was traveling at low speeds and many of the events were precipitated by the ⁠actions of other road users."

The company said it has "implemented targeted technical and operational mitigations to address our findings from each reported incidents."

Avride, which uses Hyundai's Ioniq 5 platform, said ⁠last month it has a fleet of 200 vehicles and is adding dozens more each ​month.

NHTSA has opened several investigations into self-driving cars and advanced driver assistance systems in recent years.

The agency said a preliminary review of crash videos showed instances of vehicles changing ‌lanes into the path of others, failing to slow or stop for traffic ahead, and striking stationary objects partially blocking ‌lanes.

The investigation will assess the scope and severity of potential problems and risks ⁠to passengers and other road users, ‌including technical and operational ​factors and safeguards.

Uber and Hyundai did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and ‌Mark Potter)

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