Waymo is once again recalling all its robotaxis over a potentially critical safety issue.The Alphabet brand has warned that at least 13 of its 3,871 cars have driven into freeway construction zones in the past several weeks, prompting a recent halt to service on those roads.The filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reveals six such incidents in Phoenix this April, with seven more in San Francisco in May.
Writer Elliot Slade recorded one of them on May 19th, when his Waymo ride appeared to ignore construction zone markings and even the police.At least some cars were focused on avoiding "other freeway hazards," according to Waymo.Waymo is working on a solution Details are slim, however Waymo says in the recall that a solution is "currently under development," although it doesn't share more details.
In a statement, Waymo noted that it found an "area of improvement" for freeway construction zones, and that the NHTSA recall was voluntary.The cars will stay on the road while a fix is in the works.The Google sibling brand has recalled its cars six times, most recently in May after its cars repeatedly drove into flooded streets.
Other recalls have adressed collisions with gates, phone poles, and tow trucks, with another meant to solve dangerous driving around school buses.Related Here's Everything That’s Still Wrong With Self-Driving Cars Hands-free, but not worry-free.Posts 12 By Demilade Adejola Are Waymo robotaxis safe The track record suggests they are Waymo has long argued that its robotaxis are safer than human-driven cars.
Most recently, it said that its driverless cars were 13 times less likely to be involved in collisions with serious injuries.That's not surprising, as the cars are usually cautious to the point where they'll stop if they don't know how to react.Public perception still matters, though, and there have been high-profile moments that raised safety concerns.
A Waymo car in Santa Monica hit a child near a school, inflicting minor injuries but prompting an NHTSA investigation.This doesn't include past problems with other robotaxi operators, including a fatal Uber collision with a pedestrian in 2018 as well as a 2023 situation where one of GM's now defunct Cruise Automation cars struck and dragged someone on foot.Long- and short-term fixes are underway Waymo has so far only hinted at specific, near-term fixes for issues like freeway driving and flooded roads.
However, the ride-hailing company is also changing platform development in a way that could reduce future collisions.The company recently unveiled a virtual human driver that will teach its cars to anticipate and react to situations the way a skilled person would.Ideally, this human-like response will help cars avoid crashes when conventional robotaxi wisdom falls short.
Source: TechCrunch
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