GoKawiilWaymo has recalled 3,791 robotaxis after an incident involving a flooded road, according to a report by Electrek. The company filed the voluntary recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) after a vehicle drove into a flooded road last week in San Antonio. Nobody was injured, as the taxi was not occupied, but the vehicle was swept away by the flood.
The robotaxi should have routed around the danger, but didn't. This is another example of how unique weather scenarios can trip up self-driving vehicles.
The company will issue an OTA software fix and there's no need for the vehicles to visit a service center. Waymo says it has already implemented interim constraints while the software patch is being finalized. Additionally, it's "limiting access to areas where flash flooding might occur."
This is the second flood-related incident to impact San Antonio-based Waymo robotaxis in the past month. It has temporarily ceased operations in the city, but reports indicate it's starting back up later this week.
The OTA software update should patch things up, as this very much seems like an issue relating to an algorithm not knowing what to do with a flooded street. This isn't the first time Waymo has had to recall its fleet and issue a software fix. It was recently discovered that company vehicles had a tendency to illegally pass stopped school buses.