The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into Avride, a robotaxi company that partners with Uber, after identifying more than a dozen crashes and one minor injury. The safety regulator’s Office of Defects Investigation highlighted issues such as the self-driving system struggling to change lanes or respond appropriately to other vehicles.

Despite the incidents, Avride maintains it has implemented technical and operational mitigations to address findings from each reported incident between December 2025 and March 2026. The company also pointed out that its total operations have continued to grow while the frequency of incidents relative to mileage has steadily declined.

The investigation comes amid expanded testing, deployment, and scaling of autonomous vehicle technologies by numerous companies across the United States, drawing increased scrutiny. Waymo is currently under similar investigation for illegal behavior around school buses and a January crash involving one of its robotaxis striking a child.

Crashes identified by the NHTSA included instances where Avride vehicles changed lanes into the path of or directly into other vehicles travelling in an adjacent lane. Some incidents involved damage to parked vehicles, while at least one resulted in a minor injury sustained by a truck occupant who was clipped by a robotaxi.

The probe highlights the challenges autonomous vehicle manufacturers face as they navigate regulatory scrutiny and public trust.