Waymo recalls nearly 3,800 vehicles after robotaxi swept into creek

Officials at Waymo have recalled nearly 3,800 vehicles after a robotaxi entered a flooded lane in San Antonio, and got swept into a creek.

The voluntary recall filed on April 30 with regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration affects 3,791 vehicles with fifth- and sixth-generation automated driving systems, which are programmed to "slow, but not stop" when they detect a "potentially untransversable" waterlogged road. This can lead to self-driving cars getting stuck or losing control and requiring rescue.

Luckily, the Waymo involved in the San Antonio incident on April 20 had no one inside, and no one was injured when it careened into a waterway. Still, it highlighted a huge risk as the company expands into areas with heavy rain or snow that makes roads unnavigable.

Engineers identified a software fix for the problem that Waymo will deploy on a rolling basis across its fleet. Although the company temporarily paused service in San Antonio, its staff assured there will be no disruptions in the Bay Area. Rather than remove self-driving cars from the road, the technology team will wait for each vehicle to drive back to the depot, so that workers can get under the digital hood.

"Waymo provides over half a million trips every week in some of the most challenging driving environments across the U.S., and safety is our primary priority," a spokesperson wrote in a statement. "We are working to implement additional software safeguards and have put mitigations in place, including refining our extreme weather operations during periods of intense rain, limiting access to areas where flash flooding might occur."

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