Waymo Recalls Robotaxis Over Risk They'll Drive at Speed Into Freeway Construction Zones
Waymo has filed its fourth safety recall since February 2024, after its driverless cars were caught entering closed freeway construction zones.
The recall, filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on June 17, appears to affect Waymo's entire US fleet, covering 3,871 vehicles running Waymo's 5th Generation automated driving system (ADS).
NHTSA estimates 100 precent of the affected units carry the defect, which is outlined in the filed safety recall report as “under certain circumstances, the AV may enter and drive at speed in freeway construction zones due to inappropriately prioritizing the avoidance of other freeway hazards and/or failing to recognize the construction zone.”
Waymo started offering highway rides in late 2025, and the underlying problem appears to be a failure of priority logic. According to the NHTSA filing, the ADS sometimes failed to recognize construction zones, and in other cases actively chose to drive through them...
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