Waymo has temporarily stopped services in four cities due to its robotaxis facing challenges with heavy rain and flooded roads, which had already led to a recall the previous week. A Waymo robotaxi was seen driving through a flooded street in Atlanta, Georgia, and got stuck for about an hour, according to local news reports. The car was later retrieved, and Waymo informed TechCrunch it suspended services in the city, as it did in San Antonio, Texas, to find a solution.
“Safety is Waymo’s top priority for our riders and those on the road. During intense rain in Atlanta yesterday, an unoccupied Waymo vehicle encountered a flooded road and stopped,” said the company in a statement.
Waymo also ceased operations in Dallas and Houston due to severe weather in Texas, as reported to Bloomberg News on Thursday. Waymo admitted it had not fully developed a “final remedy” for avoiding flooded roads when it issued its software recall last week, but it did release an update that imposed “restrictions” in risky areas, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) documents.
However, these precautions failed to prevent the Waymo robotaxi from entering a flooded Atlanta intersection. Waymo revealed the storm in Atlanta caused flooding before a National Weather Service warning was issued. These alerts are part of the signals used to prepare vehicles for bad weather.
“NHTSA is aware of this incident, is in contact with Waymo, and will take appropriate action if necessary,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch about the stuck robotaxi in Atlanta.
Waymo has faced similar issues before. After its robotaxis were seen illegally overtaking stopped school buses last year, a fix was introduced, but the problem persisted.
Waymo’s actions around school buses are a focus of one of two ongoing investigations into the company. Both the NHTSA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are examining this problem. Waymo has provided a set of documents to the NHTSA, though they are redacted for public access. On May 15, the NHTSA requested further documentation from Waymo for more data.
Another investigation from the NHTSA and NTSB involves a January 23 incident where a Waymo robotaxi hit a child in Santa Monica, California. Waymo stated that the robotaxi slowed to about six miles per hour before the collision, resulting in minor injuries to the child.
This article has been updated with more details on Waymo’s use of National Weather Service alerts and the new service pauses in Houston and Dallas.