Waymo recalls robotaxi fleet after one drove into Texas floodwaters
The self-driving cars are being pulled from U.S. city streets after one drove into floodwaters and was swept away in Texas.
A Waymo drives across Congress Avenue on 8th Street in front of the Capitol Building as rain arrives in the Austin area on Friday, Jan. 23, 2025. (Sara Diggins/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
Waymo is recalling 3,800 robotaxis from roads in six major cities across the United States, after a self-driving car drove into floodwaters last month.
The recall, confirmed by the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, can be traced to an incident on April 20, 2026, in San Antonio, Texas, when an empty Waymo vehicle drove into floodwaters and was swept away into a creek.
In a statement, the company said, "We are working to implement additional software safeguards and have put mitigations in place, including refining our extreme weather operations during periods of intense rain, limiting access to areas where flash flooding might occur."
Waymo operates the robotaxis in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, San Antonio and Atlanta.
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