Waymo has currently suspended service in four cities as its robotaxis struggle to handle heavy rain and flooded roads, an issue that has already prompted the company to issue a recall last week.
One of Waymo’s robotaxis ended up stuck for about an hour after it was seen driving through a flooded street in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday, according to local news reports. Waymo told TechCrunch that the vehicle has been recovered and removed from the scene. Waymo said it had paused service in cities as well as in San Antonio, Texas, while it looked for a solution.
“Safety is Waymo’s top priority for both our riders and everyone who shares the roads. Yesterday, during heavy rain in Atlanta, an unoccupied Waymo vehicle encountered flooded roads and came to a halt,” the company said in a statement.
Waymo told Bloomberg News late Thursday that it also suspended service in Dallas and Houston due to severe weather across Texas this week.
When Waymo announced the software recall last week, it acknowledged that it had not yet completed developing a “final solution” to avoid flooded areas. Instead, the company said it has provided its fleet with updates that place “restrictions on times and locations where there is a high risk of flooding on highways,” according to a document released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
But even those precautions don’t appear to be enough to prevent Waymo robotaxi from entering Atlanta’s flooded intersections. Waymo told TechCrunch on Thursday that the storm in Atlanta produced so much rainfall that flooding occurred before the National Weather Service could issue a flash flood warning, watch or advisory. The company said these warnings are part of a larger set of signals it relies on to prepare its vehicles for severe weather.
Regarding the robotaxi stuck in Atlanta, a spokesperson for the safety regulator told TechCrunch, “NHTSA is aware of this incident and is in contact with Waymo and will take appropriate action if necessary.”
This isn’t the first time Waymo has struggled to quickly root out problematic behavior with its robotaxi. Last year, when people began noticing Waymo robotaxi illegally passing stopped school buses, the company released a fix to address the issue. However, this was to ensure that their vehicles could continue to make illegal maneuvers around school buses.
Waymo’s actions around school buses are at the center of one of two active investigations into the company.
Both NHTSA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the matter. Waymo has already produced a series of documents for NHTSA, all of which have been redacted to the public. On May 15, NHTSA sent a second request for documents to Waymo because Waymo’s initial response “requires (NHTSA) to receive additional data and information.”
Another investigation by NHTSA and NTSB involves a Jan. 23 incident in Santa Monica, California, where a Waymo robotaxi struck a child. Waymo said its robotaxi braked at about 6 miles per hour before hitting the child, who suffered minor injuries.
This story has been updated with more information about how Waymo uses National Weather Service alerts., Includes new service pauses in Houston and Dallas.
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