Waymo has issued a software recall for more than 3,800 of its robotaxis over concerns that the driverless cars could enter closed freeway construction zones and continue driving at speed, increasing the risk of a crash.
The Alphabet-owned robotaxi company filed a safety recall report with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) this week.
“Under certain circumstances, the AV may enter and drive at speed in freeway construction zones due to inappropriately prioritizing the avoidance of other freeway hazards and/or failing to recognize the construction zone,” the report states.
According to a NHTSA bulletin, Waymo is recalling 3,871 of its fifth-generation automated driving systems. The agency says the company is working on a software fix that will help the cars detect when they are in a construction zone and avoid entering one. In the meantime, Waymo has restricted the affected vehicles from driving on freeways.
The safety report says the recall was prompted by several incidents in Phoenix and the San Francisco Bay Area. In Phoenix, Waymo said five of its vehicles drove past ramp closure signs and into pre-planned freeway construction zones. In the Bay Area, seven Waymo AVs entered freeway lanes with active construction by driving between cones marking a lane closure.
Reached for comment, a Waymo spokesperson told Gizmodo, “We identified an area of improvement regarding performance around freeway construction zones. 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.”
The news comes as Waymo, currently the leader in the U.S. robotaxi industry, has been steadily expanding across the country. Last month, Waymo said its service area would soon cover more than 1,400 square miles across 11 cities. The company bragged that its coverage area will eventually be larger than the entire state of Rhode Island, which is roughly 1,200 square miles. The company also has plans to expand internationally, starting with London and Tokyo.
It has also been preparing to scale up its robotaxi fleet. The company announced earlier this year that it plans to expand production at its Phoenix-area factory to tens of thousands of vehicles per year. More recently, the company acquired the 5,500-acre proving ground in Arizona that Apple used to test prototypes for its canceled Project Titan self-driving car project.
Now, Waymo seems ready to make itself known nationwide.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Waymo aired its first national ad campaign last week during the FIFA World Cup match between the United States and Paraguay on Fox. Somewhat ironically, the campaign is focused primarily on a message about the safety of its self-driving platform. The ad claims that the Waymo Driver system is 10 times safer than a human driver in the cities where the company operates.
Still, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Waymo. The company has issued previous recalls for software issues involving cars driving into flooded roads and passing stopped school buses.
Earlier this year, the NHTSA also opened a probe into a January incident in which a Waymo robotaxi struck a child near a Santa Monica elementary school.
