Waymo is recalling 3,791 vehicles after one of the company’s driverless cars was washed away during flash flooding in San Antonio last month.
Waymo filed to recall vehicles installed with its fifth and sixth generation automated driving system on May 6 with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The California-based company started pulling vehicles off the road on April 24.
“On higher speed roadways, the Waymo [autonomous vehicle] may slow but not stop in response to detecting a potentially untraversable flooded lane,” Waymo said in its filing with the NHTSA.
The company updated its vehicle maps and increased “weather-related operational controls,” according to the filing. It has also stopped serving riders in San Antonio, though its autonomous vehicles are still operating in the area, according to Waymo communications manager Chris Bonelli.
“We are working to implement additional software safeguards and have put mitigations in place, including refining our extreme weather operations during periods of intense rain, limiting access to areas where flash flooding might occur,” said a statement from the company.
Waymo lost one of its driverless cars on April 20 after it entered a flooded lane near Salado Creek and was swept into the nearby waterway. There were no passengers and no one was injured, according to Bonelli.
“An unoccupied Waymo [autonomous vehicle encountered an untraversable flooded section of a roadway that has a 40 mph speed limit. The Waymo AV detected potentially untraversable flood water and proceeded at reduced speed,” Waymo officials said in their filing with the NHTSA.
Waymo started serving San Antonio riders earlier this year via its mobile app and had just started driving passengers to San Antonio International Airport.
Bonelli said customers would be notified when Waymo resumes passenger service in San Antonio.
