08:06 AM EDT, 05/14/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updated fourth paragraph with a comment from Waymo)

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Waymo unit following reports of "unexpected behavior" in its self-driving vehicles, multiple media outlets reported Tuesday, citing the regulator.

The probe focuses on how self-driving vehicles predict the movement of other road users, after two incidents involving towed vehicles.

The regulator reportedly said Waymo's automated driving systems have, in some cases, appeared to disobey traffic safety control devices and exhibited unexpected behavior near these devices, resulting in crashes.

"At Waymo we currently serve over 50 thousand weekly trips for our riders in some of the most challenging and complex environments," Waymo wrote in an email to MT Newswires. "We are proud of our performance and safety record over tens of millions of autonomous miles driven, as well as our demonstrated commitment to safety transparency. NHTSA plays a very important role in road safety and we will continue to work with them as part of our mission to become the world's most trusted driver."

In February, Waymo recalled 444 self-driving cars due to a software error that caused minor collisions in Arizona.

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