Waymo issues recall for nearly 4,000 robotaxis over flooding risks

Waymo has issued a software update to its fleet of nearly 4,000 vehicles to help them avoid flooded roads as part of a recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which serves as the US federal safety regulator, announced the recall on Tuesday. According to the NHTSA, the recall applies to 3,791 vehicles in the U.S. The federal safety regulator noted that the issue arose because Waymo’s robotaxis were slowing, but not stopping, when encountering flooded roads that they could not traverse.

In the documents released by the federal safety regulator, the NHTSA stated that Waymo is still developing the final remedy for this recall. This action represents another entry in a series of safety-related recalls for the autonomous vehicle company. Waymo’s first recall occurred in February 2024 after two robotaxis were involved in a crash in Phoenix. In that incident, the two vehicles separately struck the same towed vehicle. Since that initial event, the company has issued subsequent recalls to address low-speed collisions with objects like parking gates and telephone poles, as well as incidents of illegal driving in the vicinity of school buses.

The decision to initiate this latest recall was made in late April, following difficulties navigating severe weather conditions in Texas. During these storms, Waymo’s vehicles struggled to navigate flooded streets, culminating in an incident where an empty robotaxi was swept away in San Antonio. Following the event, the company paused its operations in the city. The initial software update sent to the fleet places restrictions on operations when there is an elevated risk of encountering flooded, higher-speed roadways. Waymo explained that it identified a necessary improvement regarding flooded lanes on higher-speed roadways that cannot be traversed, which led to its decision to file a voluntary software recall with the federal regulator.

To mitigate these risks moving forward, the company is adjusting its operational parameters during severe weather. In a statement, Waymo said, “We are working to implement additional software safeguards and have put mitigations in place, including refining our extreme weather operations during periods of intense rain, limiting access to areas where flash flooding might occur.”

Why it matters

This recall highlights the ongoing challenge of edge-case navigation for autonomous vehicles, specifically how they handle extreme weather conditions that human drivers navigate intuitively. As driverless fleets expand across U.S. cities, regulators and operators must resolve how these systems respond to unpredictable environmental hazards.