Waymo recalls nearly 4,000 robotaxis to stop them driving into highway construction zones

[highplainsdem]

Source: TechCrunch

Waymo has recalled its fleet of nearly 4,000 robotaxis to restrict them from driving on highways while it figures out how to make the vehicles behave around construction zones.

The recall comes after Waymo identified at least 13 instances of its robotaxis driving into highway sections that were closed for construction. Six of these happened in Phoenix, Arizona in April, and seven occurred in San Francisco, California in May.

Waymo pulled its robotaxis from all highways on May 19, and a fix for the problem is “currently under development,” according to filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The company is not pulling vehicles off the road and is still operating on surface streets, though the company has periodically paused service during severe weather that could lead to flooding.

“We identified an area of improvement regarding performance around freeway construction zones,” the company said in a statement to TechCrunch. “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.”

-snip-

Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/18/waymo-recalls-nearly-4000-robotaxis-to-stop-them-driving-into-highway-construction-zones/

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This was announced by the NHTSA just today. From Reuters:

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/waymo-recall-over-3800-robotaxis-over-risk-entering-closed-construction-zones-2026-06-18/

Waymo is recalling 3,871 ‌robotaxis in the U.S. after identifying a software issue ​that could likely ​cause the vehicles to enter ⁠a closed freeway construction ​zone and continue driving ​at speed, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on ​Thursday.

The recall pertains to ​certain Fifth Generation Automated Driving Systems (ADS) ‌in ⁠robotaxis.

-snip-

Waymo will update the ​ADS software to detect ​where ⁠the vehicle is, to avoid entering construction zones, ⁠free ​of charge, NHTSA ​said.

[purr-rat beauty]

1. Did Waymo get fined like a normal driver would?

I wonder where liability will rest when autonomous vehicles start causing more accidents and deaths

Is it the driver (rider)?
Is it the manufacturer?
Insurance for covering untrustworthy tech?
The state for registering and allowing these vehicles to be on the roads?

If I had a loved one killed by an autonomous driving vehicle I would sue all of them.

[tanyev]

2. *sigh* If only all the money, time and effort poured into developing self-driving cars

had gone into giving this country kick-ass high speed trains and local transit systems.

[LisaM]

3. Who wants these things?

They suddenly appeared in Seattle with no warning (as did scooters and eBikes). There was absolutely no opportunity for the public to weigh in. Scooters are an absolute menace and eBikes are turning into one, with kids well under driving age whizzing around on them. I see people on both running red lights every day and hogging bike lanes with no care for people on actual bikes

I know that seems like a digression but really, all these things appearing with no vetting is making cities unliveable, particularly for pedestrians (like me). How can you make eye contact with a driver in a parking lot when you're crossing a street or walking out n a parking lot if there is no driver?

[WestMichRad]

4. It is illuminating that...

the people developing autonomous driving software tackle problems like this one at a time, and seemingly only when their road testing demonstrates a serious deficiency in how their "product" performs. Testing their systems on us, on our safety.

I can only presume that the engineers developing AI software are similarly rolling out their "product" similarly... at the risk of the public.