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 <AMZN.O> 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 GM.N 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Detroit automaker in 2022 again sought NHTSA approval to deploy vehicles without human controls but the petition was withdrawn in October 2024.