Waymo recalls nearly 3,900 robotaxis over risk of entering closed construction zones

Waymo communications manager Julia Ilina stands next to a Waymo driverless taxi in San Francisco, on Feb. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Terry Chea, File)

WASHINGTON — Alphabet self-driving unit Waymo is recalling nearly 3,900 robotaxis in the U.S. because a software issue could cause the vehicles to enter a closed freeway construction zone and continue driving.

It is the second recall by Waymo in just over a month.

The latest recall, filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), stems from more than a dozen incidents since early April in California and Arizona in which Waymo autonomous vehicles (AVs) did not recognize and drove past ramp closure signs into pre-planned freeway construction zones and freeway lanes with active construction work.

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The company initially imposed freeway driving restrictions until it adopted improved awareness and responses to freeway closures. Waymo updated vehicle software to avoid entering construction zones.

Waymo said in a statement to Reuters on Thursday that it had “identified an area of improvement regarding performance around freeway construction zones. We voluntarily restricted freeway operations last month while making improvements.”

Last month, Waymo recalled about 3,800 robotaxis because vehicles could enter flooded roads with higher speed limits.

The recall followed an ​incident on April 20 in which a Waymo vehicle ​drove into a flooded lane in San Antonio ⁠during extreme weather. Waymo said the vehicle was unoccupied ​and there were no injuries, but the incident prompted the ​company to review similar scenarios involving high speeds and impassable flooded roads.

Waymo has issued several recalls over the last two years, including over potentially inaccurately predicting the movement of a towed vehicle and over a vehicle’s detection response to pole or pole-like permanent objects.

Separately, Waymo ​is facing ⁠an NHTSA investigation after one of its self-driving vehicles struck a child near an elementary school ​in Santa Monica, California, in January, causing ​minor injuries.

In ⁠March, the National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating an incident in January in which Waymo self-driving vehicles illegally passed a ⁠stopped school ​bus with its lights activated.

The issue of illegally passing stopped school buses had previously prompted a recall by Waymo last December.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Anusha Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Susan Fenton)