Waymo , a subsidiary of Alphabet , is recalling 1,212 autonomous vehicles in an effort to address software issues that could cause them to collide with static obstacles , such as chains, gates and bollards .
The recall decision comes shortly after the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched a federal investigation into the safe operation of the company's fifth-generation automated driving system.
Waymo has a fleet of more than 1,500 vehicles operating in cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix , and Austin. The company has recorded 16 crashes into fixed obstacles between 2022 and the end of 2024 — fortunately, no injuries.
See also: Waymo will test its vehicles in Japan
NHTSA, which began its investigation in May 2024, said several of the incidents involved visible objectsthat a real driver would avoid. The authorities' investigation remains ongoing.
Although there were no injuries, the fact that the software failed to detect or avoid static, predictable obstacles raises reasonable questions about the level of “maturity” of systems intended for use in open, urban environments.
Waymo's move to proceed with a software update is correct and responsible, but at the same time it highlights the difficulty of the task: to create a fully autonomous vehicle that perceives the environment with human precision, even in seemingly simple situations.
See also: Tesla: 336,000 vehicle deliveries in the first quarter of 2025
Waymo is fixing its software
Waymo announced that it has resolved the obstacle collision issue through the latest version of its autonomous driving software (sixth generation).
In a statement, the company said it provides more than 250,000 paid rides each weekin areas with severe traffic challenges in the U.S. “Our track record of reducing injuries over tens of millions of miles demonstrates that our technology improves road safety,” Waymo said.
Waymo recalls autonomous vehicles
The company has issued several vehicle recalls in recent months. In February 2024, 444 vehicles after two consecutive crashes in Arizona, attributed to an error in predicting the path of tow vehicles.
A similar incident was recorded in May 2024, when a Waymo robo-taxi crashed into a wooden pole in Phoenix, leading to the recall of 670 vehicles.
See also: Google created a dashcam app for vehicles with Android Automotive
Problems at other companies
Pressure on companies operating in the autonomous vehicle sector has intensified after a serious pedestrian accident involving a Cruise in 2023.The incident led General Motors to cut off Cruise's funding and curtail its autonomous activities.
Even Amazon, through its subsidiary Zoox, was recently forced to recall 270 vehiclesafter a mini-collision between a robo-taxi and a car in Las Vegas. While no injuries were reported, the incident highlighted the ongoing safety challenge of fully autonomous driving.
Source: www.reuters.com
