Waymo is recalling 3,791 self-driving taxis after a software defect caused some vehicles to enter flooded roads, according to a recall report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association.
The voluntary recall filed on April 30 affects Waymo vehicles that operate with the company's fifth- and sixth-generation automated driving system. The software “may allow the vehicle to slow down and then drive into standing water on higher-speed roads,” according to an NHTSA report.
“Entering a flooded roadway can result in loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of an accident or injury,” NHTSA said.
The recall came after severe weather in San Antonio, during which a Waymo entered a flooded and impassable road, the company said.
In response, Waymo has increased weather-related restrictions on its vehicles and says it is working on additional software safeguards.
“We have identified an area of improvement regarding specific impassable flooded lanes on higher-speed highways and have made the decision to file a voluntary software recall with NHTSA regarding this scenario,” a Waymo spokesperson said. “Waymo offers more than half a million rides each week in some of the most challenging driving environments in the U.S., and safety is our top priority.”
Waymo operates in 10 major cities and has issued previous safety-related recalls. Last year, the company recalled more than 1,200 autonomous vehicles after minor accidents involving obstacles on the road.
The Alphabet-owned company has also been criticized for safety incidents, including hitting a child outside a school in Santa Monica earlier this year and fatally running over a neighborhood cat in San Francisco.
Based on data collected by Waymo on more than 170 million miles driven fully autonomously, Waymo is 13 times safer than human drivers in accidents involving pedestrians.
The Mountain View-based company is currently leading the race to scale robotaxis across the country, with thousands of vehicles transporting paying customers in cities like Los Angeles, Miami and Phoenix.
Competitors Zoox and Tesla are playing catch-up with their own self-driving technology, but have yet to match Waymo's scale and reach.
According to NHSTA, all affected Waymo vehicles received an interim software update to mitigate the issue, but a full fix for the recall is still being developed.
