SUMMARYWaymo is recalling nearly 3,900 robotaxis in the United States after software issues led some vehicles into freeway construction zones in Phoenix and San Francisco. The Alphabet-owned company filed the voluntary recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration following 13 known incidents and said it had already restricted freeway operations while making updates. A previous Waymo recall in May addressed robotaxis entering flooded areas, and federal regulators also opened a probe after a January incident involving a stopped school bus.
CNBC reports:
Waymo is recalling almost 3,900 robotaxis in the U.S. to fix software issues after some cars drove into freeway construction zones, according to notices filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The voluntary recall, the Alphabet-owned company's second in just over a month, followed 13 known incidents where Waymo robotaxis drove into construction zones on freeways in Phoenix, or entered freeway lanes with active construction in the San Francisco area, the filings published Thursday said... A letter posted to the regulator's website... noted that, "Driving through a closed construction zone increases the risk of a crash..."
[Waymo said in a statement emailed to CNBC] "We voluntarily restricted freeway operations last month while making improvements, proactively notified state and federal regulators, and decided to file a voluntary software recall with NHTSA. We continue to safely serve riders on surface streets in all the cities where we operate...."
The company implemented another voluntary recall in May after some of its robotaxis had driven into flooded zones or standing water. The NHTSA Safety Board also initiated a probe of Waymo after a January incident in which a robotaxi illegally passed a stopped school bus.