Amazon's autonomous vehicle Zoox receives approval from US regulatory agency

The Trump administration has cleared the way for Amazon's self-driving subsidiary Zoox to test autonomous vehicles without traditional steering wheels and other driving controls. The US Department of Transportation said in a statement on Wednesday that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has granted a waiver for Zoox to test custom self-driving vehicles that do not meet federal vehicle safety standards. Prior to this approval, there had been extensive communication between the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the self-driving car developer. Zoox is set to launch this steering wheel and brake pedal-free autonomous vehicle in 2022. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated that all of Zoox's self-driving vehicles operating on public roads will be subject to this new waiver. It is currently unclear how many of these vehicles are in operation.