First, Cruise gets into trouble due to an accident and pauses his robot taxi business. Now Waymo is recalling the software for Waymo-One.
Waymo voluntarily recalls the software that controls its robotaxi fleet. The reason is that two vehicles crashed into the same towed pickup truck in Phoenix, Arizona, in December. This is the company’s first recall.
Mauricio Peña, Waymo’s chief safety officer, described the accidents as minor and explained that the vehicle was not carrying passengers. Waymo’s ride-hailing service in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin was not affected by the update. Waymo developed, tested and validated a software solution that was rolled out to the entire fleet starting December 20th. The voluntary recall underscores Waymo’s seriousness about using the technology safely and communicating transparently with the public.
The accidents both occurred on December 11th. A Waymo vehicle struck a reversing tow truck that was parked the wrong way on the road. A few minutes later, another Waymo robotaxi collided with the same vehicle. Waymo notified local police and traffic authorities on the day of the accidents and notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on December 15. The recall could increase public pressure on Waymo as cities, citizens and government agencies take a critical view of the deployment of autonomous vehicle fleets.
This happened against the backdrop of a recent robot taxi from Waymo flared became and Cruise had a dramatic accident, which they also tried to cover up.
notice from Waymo