The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into robotaxi company Avride after identifying 16 crashes involving the company’s self-driving vehicles, including one incident that caused a minor injury.
According to the agency’s Office of Defects Investigation, the crashes raised concerns about “the competence of” Avride’s autonomous driving system.
The regulator said the incidents involved problems including unsafe lane changes, failures to respond properly to nearby vehicles, and collisions involving stationary objects.
All of the crashes occurred while safety monitors were seated behind the wheel supervising the autonomous vehicles.
Avride declined to explain why safety monitors failed to intervene during the crashes.
The company said it had reported the incidents to the NHTSA under the agency’s 2021 Standing General Order covering automated driving systems.
“We have implemented targeted technical and operational mitigations to address our findings from each reported incident between December 2025 and March 2026,” the company said in a statement.
Avride added that incident frequency has declined relative to the company’s growing mileage.
Uber Technologies, which partners with Avride, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Investigation Focuses On Autonomous Driving Behavior
The NHTSA said a preliminary review of crash footage identified repeated driving problems involving Avride’s self-driving system.
According to the agency, videos showed robotaxis changing lanes into nearby vehicles, failing to slow for stopped traffic, failing to avoid vehicles entering their lane, and colliding with partially obstructing stationary objects.
Several incidents occurred in Dallas, where Uber recently launched Avride robotaxi rides.
Other crashes took place in Austin.
At least one incident involved a passenger riding inside the autonomous vehicle at the time of the crash.
The company’s robotaxi service uses autonomous Hyundai Ioniq 5 vehicles.
One Crash Caused Minor Injury
The injury-related crash occurred in December 2025 in Dallas.
According to NHTSA records, an Avride-equipped Hyundai Ioniq 5 struck the open driver-side door of a parked pickup truck.
One occupant of the pickup truck sustained a minor injury that did not require hospitalization.
Another crash in Dallas during the same month involved an Avride robotaxi attempting to change lanes to avoid a parked pickup truck.
The robotaxi then collided with a van traveling beside it, damaging both vehicles.
Other reported incidents involved vehicles turning into Avride robotaxis, though NHTSA documents did not clarify whether those collisions could have been avoided by the autonomous system.
At least one crash involved an Avride vehicle colliding with a dumpster.
According to the agency’s records, only one reported crash mentioned an attempted intervention by a safety monitor.
Autonomous Vehicle Scrutiny Continues Growing
Avride is a subsidiary of Nebius Group, formerly known as Yandex NV before the company sold its Russian operations in 2024.
The company initially became known for sidewalk delivery robots before expanding into autonomous vehicle development.
Avride partnered with Uber in 2024, and the two companies later agreed to strategic investments and commitments reportedly worth up to $375 million.
The NHTSA investigation comes amid wider scrutiny of autonomous vehicle deployments across the United States.
Waymo is currently facing separate investigations by both the NHTSA and the National Transportation Safety Board involving incidents tied to school bus behavior and a January crash involving a child.
Featured image credits: AvRide
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