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Waymo is recalling the software that powers its robotaxi fleet after two vehicles crashed into the same towed pickup truck in Phoenix, Arizona, in December. It\u2019s the company\u2019s first recall.<\/p>\n
Waymo chief safety officer Mauricio Pe\u00f1a described the crashes as \u201cminor\u201d in a blog post<\/a>, and said neither vehicle was carrying passengers at the time. There were no injuries. He also said Waymo\u2019s ride-hailing service \u2014 which is live in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin \u2014 \u201cis not and has not been interrupted by this update.\u201d The company declined to share video of the crashes with TechCrunch.<\/p>\n Waymo said it developed, tested, and validated a fix to the software that it started deploying to its fleet on December 20. All of its robotaxis received that software update by January 12.<\/p>\n \u201cThis voluntary recall reflects how seriously we take our responsibility to safely deploy our technology and to transparently communicate with the public,\u201d Pe\u00f1a wrote.<\/p>\n The recall comes at a time when self-driving cars are facing intense scrutiny following a series of high-profile crashes and controversies \u2014 including one last week where a Waymo robotaxi struck a cyclist<\/a>. This past weekend, a Waymo autonomous vehicle was vandalized and burned by a crowd of people in San Francisco<\/a>. Rival operator Cruise, meanwhile, has suspended its operations as it deals with the fallout<\/a> of a crash from last October. It hired its first chief safety officer this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n The crashes that prompted the recall both happened on December 11. Pe\u00f1a wrote that one of Waymo\u2019s vehicles came upon a backward-facing pickup truck being \u201cimproperly towed.\u201d The truck was \u201cpersistently angled across a center turn lane and a traffic lane.\u201d Pe\u00f1a said the robotaxi \u201cincorrectly predicted the future motion of the towed vehicle\u201d because of this mismatch between the orientation of the tow truck and the pickup, and made contact. The company told TechCrunch this caused minor damage to the front left bumper.<\/p>\n The tow truck did not stop, though, according to Pe\u00f1a, and just a few minutes later another Waymo robotaxi made contact with the same pickup truck being towed. The company told TechCrunch this caused minor damage to the front left bumper and a sensor. (The tow truck stopped after the second crash.)<\/p>\n Waymo said it contacted the Phoenix Police Department and the Arizona Department of Public Safety on the day of the crashes, and told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about them on December 15. The company and NHTSA staff have had \u201cfour subsequent conversations\u201d about the crashes, before Waymo decided to voluntarily recall the software that was in use at the time.<\/p>\n The recall will could increase public pressure on Waymo, as cities, citizens and government agencies are scrutinizing the promise of autonomous vehicle fleets. Robotaxis are already facing pushback in Los Angeles<\/a>, including from the Teamsters union<\/a>. The California Department of Motor Vehicles is already investigating Waymo\u2019s aforementioned\u00a0crash with a cyclist. And the Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, among others, are probing Cruise\u2019s handling of its October crash<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n