EVwire brief: Waymo has recalled its entire fleet of nearly 4,000 robotaxis and restricted them from highways while it fixes how they handle construction zones.
The recall follows at least 13 cases of Waymo robotaxis driving into closed highway construction zones, six in Phoenix in April and seven in San Francisco in May. However, the cars are not off the road. Waymo pulled them from highways on May 19 and is still running on surface streets while it builds a fix.
We identified an area of improvement regarding performance around freeway construction zones. We voluntarily restricted freeway operations last month while making improvements, proactively notified state and federal regulators, and decided to file a voluntary software recall with NHTSA.
A Waymo in “pauking” mode (Image: Reilly Brennan / WITI)
Waymo, which only began offering highway rides in November 2025, told the NHTSA that in mid-April its robotaxis "did not recognize and drove past ramp closure signs" into pre-planned construction zones in Phoenix. Its internal safety committee then restricted freeway driving in the city while a fix was being developed.
Context:
The construction-zone recall is Waymo's sixth. The company recalled robotaxis in May after they drove into flooded roads in San Antonio, Texas, and in December over unsafe behavior around school buses, with earlier recalls covering low-speed hits on gates, chains, and a telephone pole, plus an issue with towed trucks.
Despite the recalls, Waymo’s data shows that its cars have achieved a 13x cut in serious-injury-or-worse crashes compared to human drivers
Waymo's driving software is separately under investigation by the NHTSA and the National Transportation Safety Board over its conduct around school buses, after one of its robotaxis struck a child near a school in January.
The misses are surfacing as Waymo scales fast. The company plans to launch in more than 20 cities this year, including London and Tokyo, and says its vehicles have driven over 170 million autonomous miles. Waymo also claims a 13x cut in serious-injury-or-worse crashes compared with human drivers.
Highway construction zones, with their shifting signs and cones, are exactly the kind of edge case that separates a demo from a network, and Waymo is meeting them live, in public.
Source: TechCrunch
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