Waymo Issues Recall After Robotaxi Swept Away in Texas Floods
Waymo is rolling out a software update for its entire fleet—nearly 4,000 vehicles—following a series of incidents where its autonomous cars struggled to navigate flooded roadways. The voluntary recall, coordinated with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), highlights a critical gap in how these vehicles perceive and react to extreme weather.
The Problem with Deep Water
The core issue involves both 5th and 6th generation Waymo systems. According to federal regulators, the robotaxis were programmed to slow down when encountering flooded lanes rather than coming to a complete stop. This behavior proved dangerous during recent storms in central Texas. In one notable incident in San Antonio, an empty robotaxi was actually swept away by floodwaters.
Fleet Size and Operations
This recall applies to 3,791 vehicles, providing a rare glimpse into the actual scale of Waymo’s operations across roughly a dozen U.S. cities. While the company works on a permanent software remedy, it has paused operations in San Antonio and implemented temporary “restrictions” to keep cars away from high-speed roads prone to flash flooding.
A Growing List of Recalls
This isn’t the first time the company has had to patch its fleet to address real-world driving hazards. Since early 2024, Waymo has addressed several safety hurdles, including:
- A collision with a towed vehicle in Phoenix.
- Low-speed impacts with parking gates and telephone poles.
- Errors involving illegal driving near school buses.
Waymo is currently refining its extreme weather operations to better identify untraversable lanes. Until a final software remedy is deployed, the fleet will rely on these manual mitigations and geofencing to avoid dangerous water levels during intense rain.
