Waymo Recalls Thousands of Self-Driving Cars Over Software Issue
Waymo is initiating a recall of nearly 3,800 of its self-driving vehicles in the United States due to a software problem that could cause the cars to drive into flooded roads.
The recall, which is voluntary, concerns robotaxis equipped with the company's fifth and sixth-generation automated driving systems. This action follows an incident on 20 April in San Antonio, Texas, where an unoccupied Waymo vehicle entered a flooded road and was swept into a creek.
The company, which aims to launch a robotaxi service in London by September, stated it is developing "additional software safeguards" to address the issue, as reported by CNBC.
The BBC has reached out to Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, Google's parent company, for further comment.
Waymo's robotaxi service in San Antonio remains temporarily suspended following the incident. The company has indicated that public rides will resume once the necessary software updates have been implemented.
According to a letter posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website on Tuesday, temporary updates have already been applied to restrict where affected vehicles can operate during extreme weather conditions.
Waymo's Service and Industry Perspectives
Waymo currently provides over 500,000 trips per week across several U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Austin, and Miami.
Jack Stilgoe, professor of science and technology policy at University College London, commented on the limitations of autonomous vehicle systems.
"We often see these limits only when something goes wrong,"
he said. Prof Stilgoe added that as the deployment of autonomous vehicles increases, more such issues are likely to arise.
"That isn't to say the technology won't be hugely beneficial,"
he noted.
"But policymakers would prefer to know about these things in advance rather than discovering them in hindsight."
Previous Incidents and Industry Challenges
Over the past year, several incidents involving different driverless car companies have raised safety concerns regarding robotaxis.
In December 2025, a major power outage in San Francisco caused Waymo taxis to cease operation throughout the city, leading to significant disruption.
In April, a widespread outage of Apollo Go robotaxis in Wuhan, China, resulted in at least one hundred self-driving cars stopping in traffic.
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