Last year, two Waymo robotaxis in Phoenix “made contact” with the same van it was being towed, which prompted the Alphabet subsidiary to issue a recall on the software of its vehicles. In this case, a “reminder” meant deploying a software update after investigating the issue and determining its root cause.
In a blog post, Waymo revealed that on December 11, 2023, one of its robot taxis collided with a rear-facing van being towed in front of it. The company says the truck was not towed improperly and was tilted across a center turn lane and travel lane. Apparently, the tow truck did not stop after the incident and another Waymo vehicle came into contact with the van a few minutes later. Waymo did not specify what it meant by saying its robotaxis “made contact” with the van, but it said the incidents resulted in no injuries and only minor damage to the vehicle. The autonomous vehicles involved in the collisions were not carrying any passengers.
After an investigation, Waymo discovered that its software had incorrectly predicted the van's future movements due to a “persistent orientation mismatch” between the vehicle being towed and the vehicle towing it. The company developed and validated a patch for its software to prevent similar incidents in the future and began rolling out the update to its fleet on December 20.
Waymo's rival company, Cruise, was involved in a more serious incident last year, where one of its robo-taxis accidentally dragged a person hit by another vehicle a few dozen meters down a San Francisco street. California subsequently suspended its operating license in the state, and Cruise eventually all robot taxis have been paused operations, even those with a human driver while driving, as part of a safety test. Meanwhile, it's business as usual for Waymo, which recently announcement that it will begin testing driverless vehicles on highways in and around Phoenix.