Robotaxis without a brake pedal or mirrors? Not so fast, feds say.

An Amazon-backed self-driving taxi failed to meet vehicle safety standards because it lacks basics like a brake pedal and rearview mirrors, according to a report by federal inspectors that raises questions about the industry’s plans to put a new generation of autonomous vehicles on U.S. roads.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report was produced as part of a review last year of an unusual vehicle by Amazon subsidiary Zoox that, without a steering wheel or other human controls, has no way for a person to drive. Zoox has asserted that the vehicle’s technology, backed by artificial intelligence, complies with the agency’s standards. But the NHTSA report documents “apparent noncompliances” with eight safety rules.

The contents of the previously undisclosed review suggest that rules written when autonomous vehicles were the stuff of futuristic musings pose a legal impediment to the industry's ambitions, even as plans for self-driving vehicles accelerate. Zoox has a small pilot fleet on the roads in California and Nevada and says it has completed thousands of trips carrying employees and guests. It is finalizing plans to launch public service in Las Vegas this year.

Tesla also is planning to build robotaxis without pedals and mirrors, vehicles that chief executive Elon Musk has said represent the future of his company. Tesla has applied for permission to transport nonpaying customers in California, and it has said it plans to put autonomous versions of its existing electric vehicles on the road this year.

Musk told financial analysts last year before President Donald Trump's election that he would seek to use his influence in the White House to create a regulatory path to get autonomous vehicles on the road.

NHTSA did not make the December findings on Zoox’s vehicle public; the agency’s review of the robotaxi’s design remains open. The Washington Post obtained the report through a public records request made to state regulators in California, who had a copy.

By documenting the apparent noncompliances of the Zoox, NHTSA could be setting the table for a recall, under agency procedures. It is unclear whether the Trump administration will attempt a change in course. The agency said it remains in discussion with Zoox and was “considering all options.”

"We will continue to support transportation technology innovation while maintaining the safety of America's roads," NHTSA said in a statement. Tesla and the White House, where Musk is a key adviser to Trump as leader of the U.S. DOGE Service, did not respond to a request for comment.

The review underscores how NHTSA has struggled to keep up with rapidly evolving technology. Matthew Wansley, a professor at Cardozo School of Law in New York who focuses on autonomous vehicles, said the findings do not necessarily mean the vehicle is inherently unsafe, nor do they say anything about the ability of Zoox’s autonomous driving system to safely navigate traffic.

Zoox could have sought an exemption from the safety rules, but NHTSA has never granted one to an autonomous passenger vehicle. Instead, the company self-certified that its vehicle complied with the rules as it raced to be the first company to put a purpose-built robotaxi on the road and claim a share of what could become a multitrillion-dollar market.

Zoox's vehicle bears little resemblance to a normal car. The plan is for customers to summon a ride using an app, much like a regular ride-sharing vehicle, getting in through bus-like doors and sitting facing one another.

The vehicle navigates itself, seeing the world through a set of cameras and laser-based sensors. It largely relies on its own abilities to drive, but the company says teams of remote operators can seize control to help handle unusual situations. Passengers can call for assistance via a touch screen and open the doors using an emergency release.

Phil Koopman, an expert on autonomous vehicles at Carnegie Mellon University, said Zoox’s strategy was to “get on the road and ask forgiveness later,” betting that it could scale up faster than regulators could handle. Koopman said the report shows investigators caught up.

“This proves Zoox is willing to bend the rules to make progress,” Koopman said. “There’s no question.”

Zoox is a subsidiary of Amazon, whose founder Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post. The company said it stands by its position that the vehicle complies with the federal standards.

“Our recent discussions with NHTSA are about mirrors, windshield wipers, a defroster, and a foot-activated brake pedal — equipment that makes sense for vehicles with human drivers, but not for the Zoox purpose-built robotaxi,” Zoox said in a statement. “Our purpose-built design means that the robotaxi can never be operated by a human driver, and our AI driver doesn’t rely on this equipment to view the world.”

It is unclear when NHTSA might conclude its review.

An industry group that represents Zoox called on NHTSA in January to reinterpret its rules to allow for autonomous vehicles without traditional controls, and Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy has said creating a path to get more autonomous vehicles on the road is a priority. Duffy’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

The federal review could also complicate the companies’ dealings with state regulators. The inspection report was provided to officials at the California and Nevada departments of motor vehicles, which released copies to the Post under public records requests. Legal experts said the findings could call into question Zoox’s ability to test in California, because state rules require autonomous vehicles to comply with the federal standards.

“I just don’t know how the California DMV can continue to let Zoox test with this vehicle without some document from NHTSA that exempts Zoox from compliance,” Wansley said.

The California DMV said in a statement that it was aware of the federal review and noted that it was ongoing. It referred other questions to NHTSA and Zoox. A spokesperson for the Nevada DMV said it had not taken any action based on the report.

The uncertainty over robotaxi rules is compounded by the way the federal government regulates auto safety. NHTSA regulations allow manufacturers to self-certify that their vehicles meet safety standards. The agency is left to investigate any safety issues once vehicles are already on the road.

In 2022, Zoox attached a label to its vehicle asserting that it complied with the rules. In 2024, a trio of NHTSA employees showed up at a Zoox facility in Las Vegas, bearing calipers, a ruler, a set of scales and masking tape to put that assertion to the test, according to their report. They documented apparent noncompliances with eight federal standards, including the lack of brake pedals, rearview mirrors, windshield wipers, and defoggers. (The lack of a steering wheel does not fall afoul of the rules because of changes NHTSA made to safety standards in 2022.)

Experts said many of the findings do not necessarily call into question the safety of the vehicle because the required controls and mirrors are not used by its computerized driver. But the investigators did find that the vehicles’ windshields were not made with the required type of glass, which could pose risk in a crash.

Michael Brooks, the executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, said the failure to use the correct type of glass raised the question about other potential issues that could only be revealed in crash tests.

“That’s a big screwup on their part,” Brooks said.

Waymo, Google parent Alphabet’s autonomous driving unit, opted to use modified versions of regular road-legal cars with a normal set of controls for humans. It has emerged as the industry’s leading player, with its taxi service driving 200,000 passenger trips a week in multiple cities. In January, Tekedra Mawakana, the company’s co-chief executive, said that she didn’t see its approach changing soon and that a new vehicle would continue to have human controls.

“Because it’s required so by law that cars that are FMVSS certified have all of the human controls,” she said, referring to the federal standards using an acronym. “And so it has all of the human controls.”