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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced an investigation of the self-certification by Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) self-driving unit Zoox (ZOOX) on Monday.
The safety regulator said that it is opening an audit query as it evaluates responses provided by the startup over the past year to questions regarding its vehicles. Namely, the agency has issued inquiries into the self-certification and whether or not company statements suggesting its vehicles “met all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards” is valid .
“As NHTSA continues to evaluate these responses, the agency has determined that further examination is necessary into the process and technical data on which Zoox relied when certifying the Zoox vehicle and related issues,” the investigation notice states. “In particular, NHTSA will consider the extent to which Zoox’s certification basis depended upon unilaterally developed test procedures or determinations that certain standards were inapplicable due to the unique configuration of the vehicle.”
The investigation comes about a month after the Amazon-backed autonomous driving company conducted tests on public roads. The company said that a test was conducted utilizing an employee shuttle service in Foster City, California on February 11 after receiving a permit to do so in California.
Read more on the tests conducted in California.