Waymo Recalls 3,800 Robotaxis and Pauses Service in 5 Cities Over Flooded Roads
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 22
Waymo Recalls 3,800 Robotaxis and Pauses Service in 5 Cities Over Flooded Roads
14 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 22
Nearly 3,800 Waymo robotaxis using its fifth- and sixth-generation driving systems were voluntarily recalled after software let some vehicles slow and then enter standing water on higher-speed roads.
Five cities — four in Texas plus Atlanta — had robotaxi service paused after an empty vehicle was swept into a San Antonio creek on April 20 and another unoccupied car became trapped in Atlanta floodwater on Wednesday.
Waymo also suspended freeway service in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Miami while it reviews vehicle performance in construction zones, saying additional software safeguards are in development.
More than 500,000 weekly trips are run by Waymo across multiple US cities, making the disruption notable as the Alphabet unit pushes expansion, including a planned London robotaxi launch later this year.
Will Waymo's stumble speed up or slow down the push for new national driverless car rules?
With robotaxis failing in floods, should cities now adapt their infrastructure for AI drivers?
As robotaxis learn to avoid floods, what other common weather hazards are they still blind to?