Flood-Prone
Waymo is recalling 3,791 of its RoboTaxis due to the risk of entering flooded roads at higher speeds. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Waymo have issued a recall due to a safety risk.
An incident on April 20, 2026, involved a Waymo taxi that drove into a flooded road in San Antonio during some extreme weather. Fortunately, nobody was injured in this incident, but that was enough for the transport provider to investigate and review it. and review similar situations involving a vehicle on impassable flooded roads at high speeds.
Waymo
Slow Downs
According to the recall, on April 20, 2026, "an unoccupied Waymo AV encountered an untraversable flooded section of a roadway that has a 40 mph speed limit. The Waymo AV detected potentially untraversable flood water and proceeded at reduced speed." Following that, the document stated that Waymo immediately implemented additional operating restrictions in locations with a flooded lane on a higher-speed highway. Four days later, on April 24, 2026, Waymo's Safety Board decided to conduct a safety recall.
This isn't the first time that the NHTSA has investigated a safety concern surrounding an automated transport provider. Avride, another U.S.-based company, was investigated after 16 accidents were logged. According to the source, the Automated Driving System (ADS) failed, leading to the accidents.
Waymo has also come under fire for other incidents, including an 8-lane crossing that left its passengers screaming. Another involved the transport service's vehicles getting caught breaking road laws.
Riley Walz
The Response
The NHTSA issued its safety recall on May 6, 2026, and highlighted April 20, 2026, as the date of the incident. As stated on the recall: "On higher speed roadways, the Waymo AV may slow but not stop in response to detecting a potentially untraversable flood lane," the recall reads. The safety risk, according to the agency's recall, stated that "entering an untraversable flooded roadway can result in loss of vehicle control."
Waymo's 5th and 6th-generation ADS-equipped taxis are affected by this flood crossing case. According to the company: "[Waymo is] working to implement additional software safeguards and has put mitigations in place, including refining our extreme weather operations during periods of intense rain, limiting access to areas where flash flooding might occur."
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