This week, Waymo, a division of Alphabet, announced the recall of over 1,200 self-driving cars due to software issues that may lead them to collide with things like chains, gates, and other obstacles on the road. This came about after an investigation by safety regulators.
As detailed in a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there have been at least 16 incidents involving Waymo vehicles using a fifth-generation automated driving system from 2022 to 2024. Fortunately, no injuries stemming from these crashes have been noted.
Waymo mentioned that by December 2024, it had rolled out a software update across the fleet of 1,212 vehicles, which addressed these glitches.
A Waymo spokesperson stated, “Waymo offers over 250,000 paid trips each week in some of the most challenging driving environments in the U.S.” They emphasized their commitment to high safety standards, claiming that their technology has contributed to reduced injuries over tens of millions of fully autonomous miles.
Back in May, the NHTSA initiated a probe into Waymo’s self-driving cars after reports suggested that some Robotaxis could potentially violate traffic safety laws.
During this inquiry, regulators identified at least seven minor collisions involving Waymo vehicles that had hit “clearly visible objects”—things that a careful driver would typically avoid.
The investigation is still ongoing.
Waymo pointed out that it was actively working on software improvements even before the safety agency began its investigation.
This isn’t the first instance where Waymo, which operates over 1,500 Robotaxis in various major cities, has dealt with autonomous software issues.
In February, the company had to recall 444 self-driving cars when two of their Robotaxis were towed by the same pickup truck. They noted that a faulty software update might have caused the Robotaxis to misinterpret the movements of the tow vehicle.
Then in June, another recall affected 700 Robotaxis after one of their vehicles crashed into a wooden electronic pole in Phoenix, Arizona. Thankfully, no passengers or pedestrians were hurt in that accident.
