The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has approved its first-ever exemption for Amazon’s Zoox self-driving taxis to operate without meeting Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
Unlike traditional vehicles covered by the federal safety standards, Zoox robotaxis have no pedals, mirrors, steering wheel, or driver seat.
Instead, they are purpose-built “pods” with bench seats for passengers only, designed to be a fully-autonomous taxi service.
The service has not yet launched commercially, but Zoox taxis are currently being tested in Foster City, San Francisco, and Las Vegas.
The NHTSA also closed a safety investigation into Zoox vehicles suddenly slamming on their brakes and causing rear-end collisions.
The investigation opened in 2024, after two reports of a Zoox vehicle braking unexpectedly and caused a motorcyclist to rear-end the vehicle. Minor injuries were reported, according to the NHTSA.
Zoox addressed the problem in March 2025, with a recall to update the Zoox Automated Driving System (ADS) software.
The company explained that the Zoox ADS software “may have reacted over-cautiously and braked unnecessarily hard,” or that it had “incorrectly anticipated a collision and braked unnecessarily hard.”
As a condition for receiving the exemption, Zoox said it would remove statements that its taxis meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
Source: NHTSA Issues First-Ever Demonstration Exemption to American-Built Automated Vehicles