Waymo has recalled 1,212 self-driving vehicles in the U.S. following minor collisions with fixed roadside objects such as gates and chains. That is the majority of the company’s fleet. Strangely, the issue seems to have already been fixed.
The recall is apparently due to software limitations that caused minor collisions with roadside objects such as chains, gates, and utility poles. The affected vehicles are equipped with Waymo’s fifth-generation Driver system, and the incidents occurred between 2022 and late 2024. Waymo has since updated the vehicle’s software, saying all issues were fixed by the end of December 2024, so five months before the recall was issued.
The update enhances how the Waymo Driver detects and interprets low-profile and semi-obstructed roadside features. It’s an update to the 5th generation of Waymo’s Driver system; the sixth-generation version of the automated driving system has not been implemented yet.
Official investigation
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigated Waymo’s automated driving performance in May 2024. The agency cited seven incidents where vehicles collided with clearly visible stationary objects that a competent human driver would be expected to avoid. By the end of 2024, Waymo reported an additional nine collisions with similar barriers. There are no known injuries resulting from these collisions.
Waymo’s reaction in several media outlets: “Waymo provides more than 250,000 paid trips every week in some of the most challenging driving environments in the U.S. We hold ourselves to a high safety standard, and our record of reducing injuries over tens of millions of fully autonomous miles driven shows our technology is making roads safer.”
“NHTSA plays a vital role in road safety, and we will continue to work collaboratively with the agency as part of our mission to be the world’s most trusted driver,” the company added.
Third recall
This marks Waymo’s third recall within a year. In February 2024, 444 vehicles were recalled due to errors in predicting the movement of towed vehicles, and in June, 670 vehicles were recalled after one struck a wooden pole in Phoenix.
The company currently operates over 1,500 autonomous vehicles in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin, delivering more than 250,000 fully autonomous paid rides weekly. Expansion plans include new deployments in Atlanta, Miami, and Washington, D.C.
