NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Audit Query AQ22-001: NHTSA SGO 2021-01 Reporting Requirements
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Audit Query AQ22-001 on March 24, 2022 and closed it on January 16, 2025. NHTSA's investigations file lists the PONY.AI Automated Driving System for it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- AQ22-001 (also written AQ22001)
- Investigation type
- Audit Query An administrative investigation into compliance with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting Early Warning data on time or carrying out a recall.
- Status
- Closed January 16, 2025
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Pony.ai
- Component
- Electrical System — ADAS — Autonomous/Self Driving
- Vehicles and equipment
- PONY.AI Automated Driving System
A recall appears here only when NHTSA's investigations file links one to the investigation; NHTSA's summary or record can name others.
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Audit Query AQ22-001.
On October 28, 2021, a vehicle equipped with an automated driving system (ADS) manufactured and operated by Pony.ai crashed in Fremont, California (subject crash). After learning of the crash, NHTSA engaged with Pony.ai regarding the company’s recall and reporting responsibilities under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Safety Act). This engagement led Pony.ai to submit three reports under NHTSA’s Standing General Order 2021-01 (SGO), which requires reporting of certain crashes involving ADS or Level 2 Advanced Driver Assistance Systems equipped vehicles. Pony.ai filed the first such report for the subject crash on November 17, 2021, and it filed updates to this report on November 29, 2021, and December 15, 2021. After further engagement with NHTSA regarding the company’s software changes following the crash, Pony.ai filed a Part 573 Safety Recall Report on March 3, 2022 (Recall No. 22E-016). NHTSA subsequently opened two investigations to assess Pony.ai’s response to the crash, including the timeliness of the company’s crash reporting and the sufficiency of the recall. Specifically, Audit Query AQ22001 was opened on March 24, 2022, to consider whether Pony.ai complied with the crash reporting requirements of the SGO when reporting the subject crash. Recall Query RQ22001 was opened on April 10, 2022, to evaluate the scope of the population affected by Recall No. 22E-016 and the remedy described in the recall. NHTSA issued a detailed Special Order to Pony.ai under RQ22001, requesting more information about the subject crash and Pony.ai’s response to it. Pony.ai’s response to the Special Order was voluminous, spanning a series of rolling productions. After assessing this material, NHTSA closed RQ22001 on October 30, 2023, explaining that ODI believes that the company’s recall properly identified both the ADS software error that precipitated the crash and the vehicles affected by the defect. Based on the available information, Pony.ai has implemented process and procedural changes that are designed to prevent the recurrence of the specific problems that arose with the ADS in the subject crash, as well as the company’s response and reporting for such incidents. NHTSA has engaged extensively with Pony.ai regarding the company’s responsibilities under the Safety Act, including its reporting responsibilities under the SGO. The company has continued to submit reports under the SGO since the subject crash, mostly consisting of monthly reports that no new crashes or updates to prior crashes exist. NHTSA has not identified any other concerns regarding Pony.ai’s SGO reporting since the subject crash. The available information does not warrant further action at this time. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA regarding Pony.ai’s compliance with the Safety Act. NHTSA will continue to monitor Pony.ai’s reporting and reserves the right to take additional action as warranted by future circumstances.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Audit Query AQ22-001. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
PONY.AI
PONY.AI Automated Driving System
- model year not given
What an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Free VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for AQ22-001
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.