Sprains, pain, and whiplash: Waymo and Zoox test drivers are getting hurt as robotaxis scale

Two of the people who spoke to TechCrunch said that braking can be challenging even when manually driving the Zoox test cars because of the extra weight of the self-driving sensor suite. Test drivers are trained to brake with the extra weight, they said, though they added that minor injuries can be sustained even during that training process. 

It’s hard to know if Zoox is experiencing hard-braking incidents with any regularity in its purpose-built vehicles, which do not have traditional controls such as a steering wheel or pedals. They either operate unoccupied or carry passengers who mostly aren’t employees – meaning any injuries wouldn’t be reported to OSHA.  

Zoox has reported two robotaxi crashes to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the last eight months in which hard braking for debris resulted in the purpose-built vehicles being rear-ended. The company’s descriptions of the crashes don’t specify what debris was spotted in either case.