The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a probe into Alphabet's Waymo self-driving cars following 22 reported incidents, including 17 collisions, due to behaviors that may have violated traffic laws.

The probe covers about 444 Waymo vehicles, focusing on potential non-compliance with traffic control devices and unexpected behaviors that led to crashes.

The NHTSA will examine the Waymo 5th Generation automated driving system to determine its effectiveness in recognizing and responding to traffic signs and avoiding collisions with both moving and stationary objects. This inquiry could lead to a recall if the vehicles are found to pose significant safety risks.

Analyst QuickTake: This investigation follows previous probes into other autonomous vehicle companies like General Motors' Cruise and Amazon's Zoox. In February, Waymo also recalled and updated its vehicles after identifying a software glitch that could misjudge the movements of towed vehicles.