Autonomous Taxi Meets Mishap on Vegas Strip
** Updated: May 7, 2025, 12:37h. **
Corey Levitan Read MoreSelf-Driving Cars Tech GuruLas Vegas Myths Busted!! A Zoox self-driving taxi smacked an occupied passenger car on a Las Vegas freeway last month* Thankfully, no one got hurt* A software flaw was pinpointed and squashed* Zoox is now owned by Amazon*
The road to autonomous vehicles hit a little hiccup last month in Sin City.
One of the autonomous Zoox taxis cruising around Las Vegas had a close encounter with an occupied passenger vehicle on an unnamed freeway on April 8. Remarkably, the occupants of the passenger vehicle emerged unscathed, and the Zoox robotaxi was driverless at the time. Both vehicles suffered minor damage.
According to Zoox, the passenger car darted into the taxi's lane from the shoulder, causing the taxi to slow and veer to the right, predicting the car would continue its journey. However, the car stopped, securely giving way to the Zoox robotaxi, leading to the unfortunate collision.
The Nitty-Gritty
The accident prompted Zoox, Amazon's last major purchase reportedly for $1.2-$1.3 billion in 2020, to halt all self-driving street tests across the nation.
Three days later, simulations discovered that the problem could only arise when robotaxis are barreling down the freeway at speeds over 40 mph. At such speeds, the Zoox vehicle might make an overconfident prediction regarding the other vehicle's behavior and fail to avoid a crash.
Zoox promptly dispatched a software update to all its 270 autonomous vehicles on April 16, followed by a voluntary recall to ensure the update took hold. They then resumed testing on local streets with humans behind the wheel and reinitiated freeway tests, albeit with a human safety driver on board.
Zoox has been rolling out its self-driving taxis in Las Vegas since 2019, initially confined to a one-mile loop around the headquarters before expanding to the Vegas Strip last year.
The Vegas Metro Police Department didn't file a report after the crash, raising questions about how exactly one swaps driver details with a robotaxi.
Insight: The ongoing investigation into the Zoox robotaxi crash in Las Vegas is a wake-up call for self-driving car manufacturers. Zoox responded swiftly, halting all street tests, voluntarily recalling affected vehicles, and overhauling braking algorithms to improve its AI's ability to handle dynamic road conditions, reducing the risk of similar collisions [1][2][3].
On April 8, 2025, an incident took place on a Las Vegas freeway involving a Zoox robotaxi and an occupied passenger car.
The Zoox robotaxi was at fault, having miscalculated the passenger car's movements at high speeds, leading to a collision.
Thankfully, no injuries were reported, but both vehicles sustained minor damage.
Following the incident, Amazon's Zoox halted all self-driving street tests across the U.S.
Simulations revealed the issue only occurred when robotaxis were traveling at speeds over 40 mph, causing a software defect to be pinpointed.
Zoox distributed a software update to its 270 autonomous vehicles on April 16 and voluntarily recalled them to ensure proper installation.
Resuming testing with human safety drivers and reinitiating freeway tests with a human behind the wheel, Zoox continued its self-driving taxi operations in Las Vegas, a city it began serving since 2019.
As for the Vegas Metro Police Department, no official report was filed regarding the exchange of driver details with a robotaxi post-crash.
The recent incident highlights the need for autonomous vehicle manufacturers to refine their algorithms to better handle dynamic road conditions and reduce the risk of future accidents.
