Waymo extends suspension to four cities as robotaxis plunge into flood waters

Waymo is currently suspending service in four cities as its robotaxis struggle to cope with heavy rain and flooding on roads, an issue that had already prompted the company to announce a recall last week.

One of Waymo’s robotaxis was spotted driving through a flooded road in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday, where it ended up stuck for about an hour, according to local news reports. The vehicle was recovered and removed from the scene, Waymo told TechCrunch. Waymo says it has temporarily suspended service in the city, as well as in San Antonio, Texas, while it searches for a solution.

“Safety is Waymo’s top priority, both for our riders and for everyone we share the road with. During yesterday’s heavy rains in Atlanta, an unoccupied Waymo vehicle encountered flooded roads and was stopped,” the company said in a statement.

Waymo also suspended service in Dallas and Houston this week due to severe weather across Texas, the company confirmed to TechCrunch late Thursday. The expansion was first reported by Bloomberg News.

A Waymo spokesperson said the company also suspended service in Dallas and Houston out of an abundance of caution in the face of expected severe weather.

When Waymo announced the software recall last week, it acknowledged that it had not yet finished developing a “last resort” to avoid flooded areas. Instead, the company said it shipped updates to its vehicles that impose “restrictions on times and locations where there is a high risk of encountering flooded highways,” according to documents released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

But those precautions apparently weren’t enough to stop Waymo’s robotaxis from entering Atlanta’s flooded intersections. Waymo told TechCrunch on Thursday that storms in Atlanta brought so much rain that flooding occurred before the National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings, watches and advisories. The company said these warnings are part of a larger set of signals it uses to prepare vehicles for severe weather.

Regarding the robotaxis stranded in Atlanta, a spokesperson for the safety regulator told TechCrunch, “NHTSA is aware of this incident, is in contact with Waymo, and will take appropriate action as necessary.”

This isn’t the first time Waymo has had trouble quickly eliminating problematic behavior in its robotaxis. Last year, when people started noticing that Waymo’s robotaxis were illegally passing stopped school buses, the company shipped a fix that was supposed to address the issue, only for its vehicles to continue illegally maneuvering 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 and made public. On May 15, NHTSA sent a second document request to Waymo. The reason is that the company’s first response was “because we need the following.” [NHTSA] Receive further data and information. ”

Another investigation by NHTSA and the NTSB involves the Jan. 23 incident in which a Waymo robot taxi struck a child in Santa Monica, California. Waymo said the robotaxi braked to a speed of about 9 kilometers per hour before colliding with the child, who suffered minor injuries.

This article has been updated with more information about how Waymo uses National Weather Service alerts and includes new service suspensions in Houston and Dallas.