SAN FRANCISCO, June 24 (San Francisco News Online) — Waymo has filed a voluntary recall covering 3,871 vehicles equipped with its fifth-generation automated driving system after federal safety regulators said the software may let a vehicle enter a closed freeway construction zone and keep driving.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the condition increases the risk of a crash. The recall is listed under campaign number 26E035000 in a manufacturer report dated June 12.
Waymo said the remedy is still under development. In the meantime, the company said it has modified the scope of its vehicle operations to restrict freeway driving.
The company also said it will update the automated driving software so the vehicles can better detect construction zones and avoid entering them, at no cost to owners.
The federal filing gives the recall a local tie to San Francisco and the Bay Area. It says Waymo reviewed incidents in Phoenix and in the San Francisco Bay Area before filing the recall.
According to the filing, one incident reviewed occurred on April 11 in Phoenix. Five more incidents in Phoenix were reviewed from April 19, when vehicles drove past ramp closure signs and into pre-planned freeway construction zones.
The filing also reviewed seven incidents from May 18 in the San Francisco Bay Area, where vehicles entered active freeway construction lanes by driving between cones.
Waymo said no collisions or injuries were reported in the incidents it reviewed. The company said last month it voluntarily limited freeway operations while making improvements and informed state and federal regulators before filing the voluntary software recall with NHTSA.
In a statement quoted by CNBC, Waymo said, “We have identified an area of improvement regarding performance around freeway construction zones.” The company also said it continues to serve passengers on surface streets in the cities where it operates.
The recall is national in scope and affects Waymo vehicles in the United States that use the fifth-generation automated driving system. NHTSA is the federal agency responsible for overseeing motor vehicle safety recalls.
The filing did not give a date for when the software fix would be ready, and it did not identify any response beyond the recall process itself. For San Francisco, the Bay Area incidents make the recall relevant to local transportation officials and riders even though the action covers vehicles nationwide.
