dailyloe.com – Waymo is recalling nearly 3,800 self-driving cars in the US due to a software issue that risks allowing vehicles to drive into flooded roads. This voluntary recall was announced on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website.
The recall follows an incident on April 20 in San Antonio, Texas, where an empty Waymo vehicle entered a flooded road and was swept into a creek. Waymo stated that safety is its “primary priority” and is implementing “additional software safeguards”.
A Waymo spokesperson noted that mitigations are already in place, including limiting access to areas prone to flash flooding. The San Antonio service is temporarily suspended, but will resume public rides after the software fix is implemented.
Waymo currently provides over 500,000 trips weekly across several US cities, including San Francisco, Austin, and Miami. Jack Stilgoe, a professor at University College London, commented on the limitations of self-driving car systems.
He stated that these limits often become apparent only when issues arise, raising concerns about the safety of autonomous vehicles. Prof Stilgoe noted that as more self-driving cars are deployed, similar problems may increase.
Concerns regarding robotaxi safety have been highlighted by several incidents involving different driverless car companies over the past year. In December 2025, a major power outage in San Francisco disrupted Waymo taxis across the city.
Additionally, in April, a large outage involving Apollo Go robotaxis in Wuhan, China, caused numerous self-driving cars to halt in traffic. Such events emphasize the need for robust systems as the technology becomes more prevalent.
