The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched an investigation after confirming that Avride, a robotaxi company affiliated with Uber, was involved in more than 12 accidents and one incident resulting in minor injuries.
The NHTSA’s Office of Defect Investigations (ODI) stated that all 16 confirmed accidents were related to a “lack of capability” in Avride’s autonomous driving system. The system appears to have struggled with lane changes, avoiding collisions with other vehicles in the same lane, and reacting to stationary objects.
All accidents occurred while a safety monitor was present in the driver's seat. Avride declined to comment on why the safety monitor did not intervene at the time of the accidents. However, the company stated that it reported the accidents to the NHTSA in accordance with the NHTSA’s 2021 General Order on Autonomous Driving.
"We have implemented customized technical and operational improvements based on investigations into each reported accident from December 2025 to March 2026, further strengthening system-wide capabilities," the company stated in a statement. "While the scale of our overall operations continues to grow, the accident rate relative to mileage is steadily decreasing."
Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this.
Avride, best known for its delivery robots, is a subsidiary of the Netherlands-based Nebius (formerly Yandex NV) and sold its Russian operations in 2024. Avride has been dedicated to developing and testing autonomous vehicles for years and formed a partnership with Uber in 2024. The following year, Uber and its parent company, Nebius, agreed to provide Avride with "strategic investment and other support" worth up to $375 million.
This investigation was conducted just months after Uber launched its Avride robotaxi service in Dallas, Texas, and according to the ODI, "a significant number of reported accidents occurred in Dallas." Some accidents also occurred in Austin, Texas, and at least one accident involved a robotaxi carrying a passenger.
This investigation comes as companies across the United States face stricter scrutiny as they proceed with the testing, deployment, and scaling up of autonomous vehicle technology.
Waymo is currently under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for illegal activities around school buses and for an accident last January in which an Alphabet-owned Waymo robotaxi struck a child.
The U.S. Office of Autonomous Vehicle Development (ODI) announced on Friday that it has completed a preliminary review of the footage of each Avride accident. According to the ODI, these videos show instances where "an autonomous vehicle changes lanes and obstructs the path of another vehicle traveling in an adjacent lane or collides directly with it; fails to slow down or stop for a slow or stationary vehicle in the lane or path ahead; fails to slow down or avoid a vehicle entering the lane or path ahead; and strikes a stationary object blocking part of the lane or path ahead."
This investigation comes as several companies across the U.S. are facing increasingly stringent scrutiny. According to data submitted to the NHTSA, an accident resulting in minor injuries occurred in Dallas in December 2025. Another accident in Dallas in December began when an Avride robotaxi grazed the driver's side door of a parked pickup truck. One truck occupant sustained minor injuries but did not require hospitalization.
According to data submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), another accident in Dallas occurred when an Avride robotaxi attempted to change lanes to avoid a parked pickup truck. The Avride vehicle collided with a van parked nearby, resulting in damage to both vehicles.
There have also been several incidents where other vehicles collided with Avride robotaxis, but it is unclear from the accident descriptions alone whether the robotaxis could have avoided the collisions. In at least one accident, an Avride vehicle struck a trash can. Of the reported accidents, only one showed that the safety monitor attempted to intervene.
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