Waymo has issued a software program replace to its fleet of practically 4,000 autos to assist them keep away from flooded roads as a part of a recall introduced by the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) on Tuesday.
However the firm hasn’t totally solved the issue of how its autos behave in these circumstances. In paperwork launched by NHTSA, the federal security regulator says Waymo remains to be “growing the ultimate treatment for this recall.”
The problem seems to be that Waymo’s robotaxis had been slowing, however not stopping, when encountering flooded roads that they may not traverse, based on NHTSA. Robotaxis utilizing each Waymo’s fifth- and sixth-generation autonomous car techniques are affected.
The regulator stated the recall applies to three,791 autos — giving us a extra up-to-date understanding of simply what number of autos Waymo has on the roads in round a dozen U.S. cities.
Waymo has now issued a number of recollects for its self-driving automobiles. The corporate’s first recall got here in February 2024 after it found two robotaxis in Phoenix had individually crashed into the identical towed car. Since then, Waymo has issued recollects to repair low-speed crashes with parking gates and phone poles, in addition to to handle unlawful driving within the neighborhood of college buses.
Waymo determined to concern the recall in late April after its robotaxis struggled to navigate flooding in central Texas; in a single incident, an empty robotaxi was swept away in San Antonio. The corporate has additionally paused operations within the metropolis.
The preliminary replace despatched to its fleet locations “restrictions at occasions and in areas the place there’s an elevated danger of encountering a flooded, higher-speed roadway,” based on NHTSA.
“Now we have recognized an space of enchancment relating to untraversable flooded lanes particular to higher-speed roadways, and have made the choice to file a voluntary software program recall with NHTSA associated to this situation,” Waymo stated in a press release. “We’re working to implement extra software program safeguards and have put mitigations in place, together with refining our excessive climate operations in periods of intense rain, limiting entry to areas the place flash flooding may happen.”
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