Waymo Robotaxi Recall
Waymo Recalls 3,871 Robotaxis After Driving into Closed Freeway Construction Zones
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Key Points
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Waymo said its internal safety board formally decided to issue the recall on June 8, after the company had temporarily pulled robotaxis from highway driving and worked on a software fix.
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A Waymo spokesperson told the Austin American-Statesman that the software recall would have “no effect on service in Austin,” even though Waymo had begun freeway testing there in February (with service not yet offered to riders).
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In one May incident reported by CBS San Francisco, rider Elliot Slade described the vehicle “sped through a construction zone” as lanes were merging, and said the car was “chased by police.”
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NHTSA said the recall affects vehicles using Waymo’s “5th Generation ADS” that power Jaguar robotaxis, and the CBS report notes Waymo expanded freeway driving capability last year in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles.
Waymo has recalled 3,871 of its robotaxis after the vehicles drove into closed freeway construction zones at highway speeds — at least 13 times. NHTSA confirmed the defect on June 18, covering Waymo's 5th Generation Automated Driving System, which powers its Jaguar robotaxi fleet across the U.S.
No crashes or injuries were reported in any of the 13 incidents. But passenger Elliot Slade told CBS San Francisco his car "accelerated to highway speeds down this construction lane" and was chased by police. He said he looked at his fiancée and thought, "We're done. This is it. We're dead."
13 Incidents Across Phoenix and San Francisco Triggered the Recall
The trouble began in Phoenix on April 11, when a Waymo vehicle failed to read ramp-closure signs and entered a work zone. Five more Phoenix incidents followed on April 19. Then, on May 18, seven Waymo vehicles in the San Francisco Bay Area drove between traffic cones into active construction lanes, according to Reuters.
Waymo's Field Safety Committee met on April 20 after the Phoenix events and again on May 19 after San Francisco. On May 19, the company restricted all freeway driving across its entire fleet while engineers worked on a fix. USA Today reported the formal decision to issue a recall came June 8, with paperwork filed June 12.
A Software Glitch Confused Static Barriers With Live Traffic Hazards
NHTSA said the defect works in two ways. First, the system sometimes ignored construction signs and barriers entirely. Second, it "inappropriately prioritized" other nearby hazards — like moving cars — over the closed ramp. In short, the car saw nearby traffic as the bigger threat and missed the construction zone altogether.
How-To Geek noted this reflects a deeper challenge for autonomous vehicles: correctly weighing "static" cues like cones and signs against "dynamic" threats like moving vehicles. Waymo expanded freeway driving in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles only in late 2023. High-speed, complex construction scenarios are exactly the kind of edge cases that city-street driving never exposed.
An Over-the-Air Fix Means No Cars Pulled From Roads
Waymo said the remedy will arrive as an over-the-air software update — meaning no vehicle needs to visit a shop or be taken out of service permanently. A Waymo spokesperson called it a proactive move, saying the company "identified an area of improvement" and chose to file a voluntary recall, per the Houston Chronicle.
The fix is not yet deployed. Until it is, freeway driving remains restricted. PCMag reported that after the May 19 pause, wait times in some service areas topped one hour. Waymo also said the recall will have "no effect on service in Austin," where freeway testing began in February but public rides have not yet launched.
Waymo's Sixth Recall Raises Questions About AV Expansion Speed
This is Waymo's sixth major software recall and its second in just over a month. In May, Waymo recalled 3,791 vehicles after robotaxis drove into flooded roadways — a problem that surfaced after a vehicle was swept away in San Antonio, according to Morningstar. In late 2023, Waymo recalled 3,067 vehicles for illegally passing school buses with extended stop arms.
Analysts at Morningstar noted the recall timing is sensitive as competitors — including Uber and Mobileye — ramp up their own robotaxi plans for 2025–2027. Alphabet shares dropped 2.53% following the recall announcement. NHTSA's pattern of pushing Waymo toward formal recalls suggests federal regulators are moving away from light-touch oversight and toward a stricter, pre-incident model for the entire AV industry.
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