Waymo is recalling thousands of robotaxis to fix a software issue that could cause the autonomous vehicles to drive on flooded roads.

The recall affects 3,791 vehicles equipped with the company’s fifth- and sixth-generation automated-driving system, according to documents posted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website. The Alphabet Inc.-owned robotaxi business is working on a final remedy to address the problem, the agency said.

Waymo said in a statement that it has placed constraints on the system to limit access to higher-speed roadways where flash flooding might occur.

“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,” the company said.

The decision stems from an April 20 incident in San Antonio, where an unoccupied Waymo robotaxi encountered “an untraversable flooded section of a roadway,” according to the documents. Rather than avoid the potentially dangerous street, the vehicle proceeded into floodwater at a reduced speed.

Waymo temporarily suspended robotaxi operations in the city after the incident. The company said it has resumed autonomous operations there but has not yet restarted rides for customers.

Although no one was injured and the recall is relatively small, the incident highlights the challenges for driverless vehicles to adapt to unpredictable weather and other unexpected roadway conditions without a human driver’s judgment. Waymo has been rolling out its robotaxi service in cities across the US in a growing competition with the likes of Tesla Inc.

NHTSA has two separate investigations into Waymo’s self-driving vehicles. One is probing an incident in which a robotaxi struck a child near a school in Santa Monica, California, in January, while the other was opened after the company’s cars repeatedly failed to fully slow or stop for school buses last year.

{Matzav.com}