Waymo Issues Voluntary Recall of 3,800 Robotaxis to Address Flooded Road Software Issue

Waymo is recalling nearly 3,800 robotaxis that use the company's fifth and sixth-generation automated driving systems after an empty vehicle entered a flooded road and was swept into a creek in San Antonio, Texas on 20 April. The voluntary recall was posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website on Tuesday.

According to a letter on the site, the action addresses a software issue that could allow vehicles to drive into flooded roads.

Waymo told the BBC that safety was its primary priority and it was working on additional software safeguards. A Waymo spokesperson added that mitigations had already been put in place, such as limiting access to areas where flash flooding might occur. Waymo's San Antonio service remains temporarily suspended following the incident.

The company said it will resume public rides after the necessary software fix had been rolled out. U.S. cities including San Francisco, Austin and Miami.

The company, which is owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, hopes to operate a robotaxi service in London by September. In December 2025, a large power outage in San Francisco led Waymo taxis to stop working around the city, causing significant disruption. In April, a mass Apollo Go robotaxi outage in the Chinese city of Wuhan caused at least a hundred self-driving cars to stop mid-traffic.

Jack Stilgoe, professor of science and technology policy at University College London, told the BBC that all self-driving car systems had limits on when and where they could operate safely. "We often see these limits only when something goes wrong," he said. As more autonomous vehicles are deployed, Prof Stilgoe said, more such problems are likely to emerge.

"That isn't to say the technology won't be hugely beneficial," he added.