SAN FRANCISCO, June 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Embark Trucks, Inc. ( EMBK, “Embark”), a leading developer of autonomous technology for the trucking industry, emerged with a perfect safety record in new data reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) yesterday. The agency released the crash data collected from Automated Driving System (ADS) and Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) companies under a Standing General Order (SGO) issued in June 2021. Embark reported zero crashes since NHTSA began collecting data last year, and has never had a NHTSA-reportable crash in its history.
NHTSA issued the SGO to evaluate whether the manufacturers of ADS and ADAS systems are meeting their statutory obligations to ensure that their vehicles and equipment are free of defects that pose unreasonable risks to motor vehicle safety. Notably, the SGO requires developers of ADS, such as Embark, to report all public road crashes to NHTSA while ADAS developers are only required to report more severe crashes such as those resulting in hospitalization or death. The full datasets released by NHTSA can be found at this link.
Since its founding in 2016, Embark has never been involved in a NHTSA- or FMCSA-reportable crash. This impeccable safety record is made possible by Embark’s high operational standards and technical capabilities such as Vision Map Fusion (VMF). NHTSA’s crash data released yesterday lists 3 crashes involving autonomous trucks across the industry over the past year out of 130 total reported ADS-involved crashes across all vehicle types, showing the industry’s strong progress.
Embark continues to prioritize safety throughout its operations and test fleet as it moves toward commercialization. Through its Partner Development Program, Embark has worked with leading national trucking fleets to develop rigorous dispatching criteria and enhanced pre-trip inspection procedures. This work creates a high safety standard during Embark’s testing period that will transfer over to commercial use of Embark’s system by leading fleets. The company recently began 24 hour-per-day testing in Texas, and has significantly grown its operations team – including safety drivers, AV operators, and other safety operations personnel – while continuing to reinforce its safety culture.
“Embark sets a high standard for the industry on operational safety and compliance, and the NHTSA data release is a testament to the work performed every day by our engineering and operations team,” said Stephen Houghton, COO of Embark. “Embark’s safety record is a strong signal that autonomous vehicles can create safer roads for all road users.”
Embark’s patent-pending VMF technology is another key factor in enabling safe operations in a variety of conditions across the US Sunbelt. Unlike ADS systems that rely on HD maps to navigate, VMF dynamically adapts to changes in the roadway, allowing Embark-powered trucks to safely identify and react to situations that can be hazardous for other ADS software.
“Vision Map Fusion enables the Embark Driver to navigate complex, unexpected scenarios, in a more adaptable way than traditional HD map solutions,” said Embark Co-founder and CEO Alex Rodrigues. “Our tech stack has been designed from the ground up to prioritize safety and prepare for dynamic, real-world road scenarios encountered on highways, and enables the industry-leading safety record we see validated in this new data.”
About Embark
Embark Trucks, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Nasdaq-listed Embark Technology, Inc. ( EMBK), is an autonomous vehicle company building the software powering autonomous trucks, focused on improving the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of the nearly $730 billion a year trucking market. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA since its founding in 2016, Embark is America’s longest-running self-driving truck program and partners with some of the largest shippers and carriers in the nation.
Embark’s mission is to realize a world where consumers pay less for the things they need, drivers stay close to the homes they cherish, and roads are safer for the people we love. To learn more about Embark, visit embarktrucks.com.
Contacts For Embark:
Media:
Misha Rindisbacher, [email protected]
Investor Relations:
Bill Ong, [email protected]
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Embark’s actual results may differ from their expectations, estimates and projections and consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “budget,” “forecast,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “believes,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Embark’s expectations with respect to future performance. These forward-looking statements also involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (1) ability to expand into new markets; (2) changes in the applicable laws or regulations; (3) the possibility that Embark may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; (4) the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic; and (5) other risks and uncertainties separately provided to you and indicated from time to time described in filings and potential filings by Embark with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including those discussed in the Annual Report on Form S-1 filed on May 31, 2022, and other documents filed with the SEC from time to time. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Embark cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive and not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, including projections, which speak only as of the date made. Embark undertakes no obligation to and accepts no obligation to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
