Safety isn’t just part of what we do. It’s why we’re here.
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Our Chief Safety Innovation Officer, Dr. Mark Rosekind, delivers an overview of three categories of safety innovations within our 2021 Safety Report: greater driving control, no single point of failure, and rider protection. Here we highlight just a few of the more than 100 safety innovations built into the Zoox vehicle.
Safety reports
Zoox continues to push the boundaries in safety innovations. Read our safety reports to learn how.
Every part of Zoox is designed to keep you safe—whether you’re riding with us or not. In fact, our purpose-built autonomous vehicle includes more than 100 safety innovations that do not exist in today’s conventional cars. Here are 9 notable ones highlighted in our 2021 safety report:
Driving control
Shorter stopping distances means safer braking
Each wheel on our vehicle has an independent braking and active suspension system that can help avoid potential crashes through better tire traction and more controlled weight distribution.
Four-wheel steering and control are all about precision
One of the most unique attributes of our vehicle is its ability to control all four wheels individually—including speed, power, and direction. This allows the vehicle to stay within a few centimeters of its desired trajectory.
Bidirectional: no back or front
With the ability to steer and drive with all four wheels, the Zoox vehicle can navigate in either direction as needed, eliminating the need for extra maneuvers, like a three-point turn.
No single point of failure Our vehicle is engineered with the design objective to eliminate single points of failure in safety-critical systems. This approach to our vehicle architecture draws inspiration from aviation levels of safety, and Zoox is the first to apply them to automotive design.
Redundant steering and driving controls
Even if confronted with a major system failure, our vehicle can keep going with safe limited abilities, while navigating to an appropriate and safe place to stop.
Fail-operational power supply keeps our vehicles moving
In the very unlikely event that our battery systems were to experience a failure, or either power converter were to malfunction, there is an additional layer of redundancy to ensure the vehicle can pull over into a safe location and still turn on hazard lights and open doors.
The Zoox monitoring system goes far beyond a typical car’s check engine light and can precisely detect fault-states across the vehicle’s hardware, software, and firmware.
Rider protection
Equivalent safety for each rider
In a Zoox vehicle, no seat is more likely than any other to be occupied by a passenger. We believe all riders deserve the same amount of protection, regardless of seating position.
Reimagining the airbag for a new kind of vehicle
The unique Zoox airbag system consists of several distinct airbag types: horseshoe curtain airbags, frontal airbags, rear airbags, side head airbags, and seat side airbags.
Seat belts: a new take on a classic life-saving tool
Seat belts save lives. Which is why no Zoox vehicle will begin operation until all passengers have properly and securely fastened their seat belts. Our three-input safety system leverages sensors, switches, and cameras to ensure proper seat belt usage.
At Zoox, safety and innovation go hand in hand
The shift to autonomous vehicles is a once-in-a-century opportunity to make our roads safer. That’s why we started from scratch.
40,000 people die on U.S. roads every year. That number has barely dropped in decades, despite the hundreds of safety features in every new car.
It’s not enough just to be as safe as cars. We must be much, much safer—both for our riders and other road users.
That’s why we built Zoox from the ground up, instead of just adapting a car. So we could put safety at the heart of every single design decision.
“For 100 years road safety has been reactive. We are in a moment where we need to transition to a proactive safety culture.”
Dr. Mark Rosekind, Zoox Chief Safety Innovation Officer
Our safety innovation strategy:
“Prevent and Protect”
Zoox represents a fundamental shift: from reactive to proactive safety. We call our strategy “Prevent and Protect”.
We’re using technology to prevent every crash we can—including the 94% that are caused by human error.
We’re also protecting riders with innovative safety features, like an airbag that cushions your head, neck, and chest in a totally new way.
Safety innovation at Zoox
There’s so much to unpack when it comes to safety at Zoox. Join Dr. Mark Rosekind, Chief Safety Innovation Officer at Zoox, as he discusses our approach and the shift towards a proactive culture of safety.
