Waymo Recalls Around 3,800 Robotaxis After One Drove Into a Flooded Road and Got Swept Away

Waymo has issued a recall for almost 3,800 robotaxis that are operating in the country over a recent incident, which involved a single Waymo robotaxi that drove into a flooded road.

The voluntary recall aims to fix the issue in order to avoid the incident from happening again, especially if there is a passenger on board.

Waymo Issues Recall For Almost 3,800 Robotaxis

According to a report by Electrek, Waymo has issued a voluntary recall through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for a total of 3,791 robotaxis after a recent incident.

The voluntary recall was done after a single Waymo robotaxi drove into a flooded road in San Antonio, Texas, last week, and the company is set to issue a fix to avoid similar incidents.

The report said that Waymo will issue an over-the-air (OTA) software update to the almost 3,800 robotaxis in operation, but the good thing is that no vehicles are required to visit a service center.

At present, Waymo said that it has already applied "interim constraints" to its robotaxis as they are still in the process of finalizing the software patch that will fix the issue, as well as limiting access to areas where flash flooding might occur.

Waymo Robotaxi Flooded Road Incident

The previous incident that triggered this voluntary recall took place in San Antonio, which was recently hit with flooding. According to ExpressNews, the single Waymo robotaxi drove into the flooded road, but the good thing is that the vehicle did not have a passenger on board.

However, the robotaxi was swept away by the flood during the incident, and this poses a major safety risk for the passenger and the vehicle.

It was revealed that Waymo robotaxis should have taken another route after discovering flooded roads, but this incident had the vehicle driving through it, which led to its loss.

Previous studies said that Waymo's robotaxis are generally safer than human drivers, but this occurrence of a natural calamity has led to it making a mistake.