Zoox robotaxis recalled for veering into oncoming traffic
Zoox robotaxis recalled for veering into oncoming traffic
Occurred: August 2025
Page published: December 2025
Amazon’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary, Zoox, issued a voluntary software recall for its fleet of 332 robotaxis following reports of its vehicles crossing centre lines and stopping in the path of oncoming traffic near intersections.
The recall was triggered by an internal investigation that began on August 26, 2025, when a Zoox robotaxi made an excessively wide right turn, partially entered an opposing lane, and came to a temporary halt in front of oncoming vehicles. While no collisions or injuries occurred, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that the behaviour significantly increased the risk of a crash.
Between August and December 2025, Zoox identified 63 separate instances where its vehicles unnecessarily crossed lane boundaries in San Francisco and Las Vegas. In several cases, the vehicles didn't just drift; they stopped entirely in the path of opposing traffic, creating a hazardous obstruction for human drivers and disrupting traffic.
Zoox attributed the dangerous manoeuvers to a combination of software logic bugs and perception errors in its Automated Driving System, including mislabeling stationary, double-parked vehicles as "lane boundaries," causing the robotaxi to path-find into the opposing lane to "avoid" them.
In addition, last-second routing changes near complex intersections caused the system to execute poorly planned turns.
Ironically, the vehicles had been programmed with an "abundance of caution" to avoid blocking cross-traffic; however, these manoeuvers were executed so poorly that they nudged the cars over the yellow center lines.
The incident highlights accountability limitations in the AV industry. While Zoox was proactive in its reporting, the fault lived within proprietary black-box algorithms that had been certified for public road use only months earlier.
The reliance on Over-the-Air (OTA) updates allows companies to keep vehicles on the road while "fixing" safety-critical defects, potentially exposing the public to experimental code during the validation period.
For passengers, pedestrians and nearby motorists. The incident means an increased, unpredictable risk of head-on collisions, and demonstrates that even when an AV is "acting cautiously" by its own logic, it can create "ghost" hazards that human drivers do not expect.
For Zoox. This marks its third major software recall in 2025 (following separate issues with pedestrian detection and unexpected hard braking), signaling that their "slow and steady" approach still faces significant technical hurdles.. The incident further erodes public trust in "driverless" technology.
For regulators. The incident highlights the importance of the NHTSA’s Standing General Order, which requires AV companies to report these "near-miss" behaviours - which is becoming the primary way the public and regulators can peer behind the curtain of corporate opacity.
Zoox Automated Driving System
Developer: Zoox
Country: USA
Sector: Automotive
Purpose: Automate steering, acceleration, braking
Technology: Self-driving system
Issue: Accountability; Safety; Transparency
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Safety Recall Report 25E090
AIAAIC Repository ID: AIAAIC2175