US seeks comment on Zoox petition to deploy robotaxis without steering wheels

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - ‌The National ​Highway Traffic ​Safety Administration said Tuesday it is seeking public comments on Amazon.com's (NASDAQ: AMZN) self-driving unit Zoox to deploy up to 2,500 purpose-built, steering-wheel-free robotaxis.

Zoox ‌filed a petition in August seeking approval from the auto safety ⁠agency saying it would provide at least an equivalent level of safety to human-driven vehicles ‌and need exemptions from eight ‌federal vehicle safety standards written with human drivers in mind.

"This marks a major milestone towards providing the American AV industry with a streamlined pathway to ​scaled commercial deployment of novel AV fleets," U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at a forum Tuesday, adding he has approved NHTSA’s next round of ⁠proposed revisions to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to account for vehicles without human drivers.

NHTSA has authority to ​grant petitions to allow up to 2,500 vehicles per manufacturer yearly to operate on U.S. roads without required human controls, ​but the agency has spent years reviewing several ‌exemption petitions without taking action. Manufacturers must demonstrate vehicles without human controls provide an equivalent safety level and exemptions are ⁠in the public interest.

Last year, NHTSA said it was streamlining reviews of requests filed by automakers seeking to deploy self-driving vehicles without required human controls like steering wheels, brake ⁠pedals or mirrors.

Automakers previously expressed frustration with the agency's slow reviews of autonomous vehicles. Under the ​law, fully self-driving vehicles do not need NHTSA approval if they have required human controls.

The Zoox fully autonomous electric robotaxi was unveiled in December 2020 and has a top speed ‌of 75 miles per hour. It has campfire- or carriage-style seating.

In 2018, GM petitioned NHTSA to deploy up to 2,500 ‌cars without steering wheels or brake pedals on U.S. roads. In 2020, GM withdrew ⁠the petition and the Detroit ‌automaker in 2022 again sought ​NHTSA approval to deploy vehicles without human controls but the petition was withdrawn in October 2024.

(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by ‌Nick Zieminski)

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