Waymo recalls nearly 4,000 robotaxis over highway construction issues

Alphabet-owned Waymo has issued a voluntary software recall for its fleet of nearly 4,000 robotaxis to restrict them from driving on highways. The recall, filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, the US federal regulator for vehicle safety), follows the identification of at least 13 instances of its vehicles driving into highway sections that were closed for construction. According to regulatory filings, six of these instances occurred in Phoenix, Arizona, in April, and seven occurred in San Francisco, California, in May. Waymo subsequently pulled its robotaxis from all highways on May 19, though the company continues to operate on surface streets.

This is the sixth recall Waymo has issued for its robotaxis. The company previously recalled vehicles after they drove into flooded roads in May, and issued another in December to address illegal behavior around school buses. Other past recalls addressed low-speed collisions with chains and gates and telephone poles, as well as issues involving towed trucks. Currently, Waymo’s driving software is under investigation by both the NHTSA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB, the US federal agency investigating transportation accidents) regarding its behavior around school buses, after a robotaxi struck a child near a school in January.

The highway construction issues highlight the edge cases Waymo faces as it executes its expansion, with plans to launch in more than 20 cities this year, including London and Tokyo. Waymo, which started offering highway rides in November 2025, told the NHTSA that its robotaxis did not recognize and drove past ramp closure signs in Phoenix, and later in San Francisco because the software prioritized avoiding other freeway hazards or failed to recognize the construction zone. Waymo’s safety board decided to issue the recall on June 8. Footage of one San Francisco incident on May 19 was shared on social media by X user Elliot Slade, who claimed the vehicle blasted through cones and was chased by police. “There were construction signs,” Slade told CBS News, adding, “There were lights going on. Police in the distance and it sped up. That’s when I looked at my fiancée, we’re done. This is it. We’re dead. We’re going to die right here in the Waymo.” Waymo later offered Slade three free rides of up to $40 each.

Waymo claims its vehicles have driven more than 170 million miles autonomously and demonstrated a 13x reduction in serious-injury-or-worse crashes compared to human drivers, while according to the NHTSA, a fix for the construction zone problem is currently under development. In a statement, the company said: “We voluntarily restricted freeway operations last month while making improvements, proactively notified state and federal regulators, and decided to file a voluntary software recall with NHTSA.”

Why it matters

Waymo’s sixth recall underscores the difficulty of scaling autonomous driving beyond controlled environments, as the company faces increasing scrutiny over edge-case performance during its expansion into cities like London and Tokyo.