SAN FRANCISCO, June 24 (San Francisco News Online) — Waymo has filed a voluntary recall covering 3,871 vehicles with its fifth-generation automated driving system after federal regulators said the software could let a robotaxi enter a closed freeway construction zone and continue driving, raising crash risk.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the recall is listed as campaign number 26E035000 and applies to U.S. vehicles equipped with Waymo’s 5th Generation Automated Driving System. The manufacturer report was dated June 12 and was posted in NHTSA records.
Waymo said the fix is still being developed. In the meantime, the company said it has modified its operations to restrict freeway driving while it works on the remedy.
NHTSA said the problem is that the software may fail to keep the vehicle out of a closed construction zone. The agency said driving through a closed construction zone increases the risk of a crash.
Waymo said it will update the automated driving software so the vehicles can better detect construction zones and avoid entering them, and that the repair will be provided free of charge. The filing did not give a date for when the software change will be finished.
The recall follows incidents reviewed by Waymo in Phoenix and the San Francisco Bay Area, according to the federal filing. The company said the vehicles involved entered closed or active freeway work zones, including lanes marked by cones and ramp closure signs.
Waymo said no collisions or injuries were reported in the incidents it reviewed. In an email statement reported by CNBC, the company said it had voluntarily limited freeway operations last month, informed state and federal regulators and filed a voluntary software recall with NHTSA.
“We recognized an opportunity for enhancement concerning performance near freeway construction sites,” Waymo said in the statement quoted by CNBC. The company also said it continues to serve passengers on surface streets in all of the cities where it operates.
The Bay Area link gives the recall direct local relevance in San Francisco, where freeway construction and traffic control changes can affect autonomous vehicle routes and commuter travel. Waymo did not say how long the freeway restrictions would stay in place or when unrestricted freeway service would resume.
