Zoox is seeking wider clearance from U.S. regulators to operate self-driving cars that lack traditional driving controls, suggesting that the autonomous-vehicle subsidiary of Amazon.com Inc. is preparing for broader commercial deployment.

Zoox requested exemptions from U.S. vehicle safety standards field vehicles that will be operated by an automated driving system without a human operator on board, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a regulatory filing made public on Wednesday.

The exemption Zoox is seeking would allow the company to operate as many as 2,500 self-driving cars on U.S. roads. A previous approval only covered vehicles that were designed for research and demonstrations.

The request shows how self-driving vehicle developers are moving to capitalize o

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