Federal safety regulators have launched a formal investigation into Avride, an autonomous vehicle company currently partnered with Uber, following a series of more than a dozen documented collisions. The probe, initiated by the Office of Defects Investigation, focuses on 16 incidents where the company’s self-driving software demonstrated significant performance failures, including difficulties with lane changes, improper reactions to stationary objects, and poor navigation around other vehicles.

All of the identified crashes occurred while a human safety monitor was present in the driver’s seat. Despite the presence of these monitors, the system struggled to maintain safe operation, leading to at least one minor injury in Dallas during a December 2025 incident where a robotaxi clipped a parked truck’s door. Other reported incidents include collisions with vans, a dumpster, and failures to account for vehicles merging into the robotaxi’s path. While Avride has declined to comment on why safety monitors failed to intervene in these instances, the company claims it has already implemented technical updates to mitigate these specific risks.

Avride, a subsidiary of the Netherlands-based firm Nebius, has faced increased scrutiny as its partnership with Uber expands into major markets like Dallas and Austin. The company asserts that it has been transparent in reporting these incidents to federal authorities in accordance with standing regulations and notes that the frequency of such events relative to total mileage has trended downward. However, the investigation underscores a growing national debate over the safety protocols of autonomous driving technology as more companies move to scale their operations on public roads.

This regulatory action follows a broader trend of increased oversight for autonomous vehicle developers. As the industry faces mounting pressure to demonstrate the reliability of its systems, the outcome of this investigation could have significant implications for the future of the Uber-Avride partnership and the broader deployment of robotaxi services across the United States.