Investigations
NHTSA SGO 2021-01 Reporting Requirements
NHTSA Audit Query AQ22001 — closed, opened 2022-03-24.
NHTSA investigation AQ22001 is a Audit Query opened on 2022-03-24 and currently closed. The subject is tracked inside the Office of Defects Investigation queue. Latest activity on this investigation was logged on 2025-01-16 — NHTSA updates that field whenever an Information Request goes out, a supplement is filed, or a status change is recorded in the public docket.
An Audit Query like AQ22001 is how NHTSA checks that manufacturers are meeting their statutory obligations — things like notifying owners, reporting foreign recalls, and tracking remedy completion rates under TREAD and FMVSS requirements.
Investigators summarized the matter as follows: "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..." Investigations are the early-warning layer of the federal auto-safety system, sitting upstream of formal recalls and defect orders. Whether this one closes without action or escalates into an Engineering Analysis, the full history stays in the ODI archive so researchers, litigators, and buyers can pull the paper trail at any time.
Investigation Summary
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 t
About This Investigation Type
An Audit Query (AQ) is conducted to verify manufacturer compliance with safety standards and recall requirements.
Data from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Cross-references: NHTSA recall campaign API and NHTSA FARS where fatality records overlap. PlainCars does not rate or recommend vehicles. Learn more.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.