Waymo recalls robotaxi software after school bus incidents

Waymo plans to voluntarily issue a software recall with federal safety regulators related to how its robotaxis operate around school buses, TechCrunch reports in a December 5th article.

“The voluntary software recall will be filed early next week, according to the company. Waymo said as soon as the issue was identified it updated its software on November 17. The company contends this update has meaningfully improved performance to a level better than human drivers in this important area,” TechCrunch writes.

“Software recalls have become more common in the age of modern passenger vehicles — and now robotaxis — in which operations are handled by software. These updates, or fixes, are often made prior to the official recall but still carry weight when filed with the federal government.”

Waymo’s decision follows increased scrutiny by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and criticism by officials in Atlanta and Austin over how its robotaxis perform around school buses.

NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened its initial investigation into Waymo in October after seeing footage of its autonomous vehicle maneuvering around a stopped school bus — with its stop sign extended and lights flashing — that was unloading kids in Atlanta. In that incident, a Waymo robotaxi crossed perpendicularly in front of the school bus from its right side. The autonomous vehicle then turned left around the front of the bus before traveling down the street.

Other similar incidents popped up in Austin, where the company also operates a robotaxi service with partner Uber. Austin School District officials contend, in a letter available on NHTSA’s website, that at least five of these occurred after Waymo said it updated its software.

The agency sent a letter December 3 to Waymo asking for more information about its self-driving system and operations following reports from the Austin School District that its robotaxis illegally passed school buses 19 times this year. Regulators requested detailed information about its fifth-generation self-driving system and operations.

“While we are incredibly proud of our strong safety record showing Waymo experiences twelve times fewer injury crashes involving pedestrians than human drivers, holding the highest safety standards means recognizing when our behavior should be better,” Waymo Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Peña told TechCrunch in an emailed statement. “As a result, we have made the decision to file a voluntary software recall with NHTSA related to appropriately slowing and stopping in these scenarios. We will continue analyzing our vehicles’ performance and making necessary fixes as part of our commitment to continuous improvement.”

As reported by City Hall Watcher’s Matt Elliott on December 1st, Waymo is looking at Toronto. Alphabet’s autonomous taxi service opened a registration with Toronto’s lobbyist registrar on November 6.

The file says two lobbyists registered for Waymo “will be ‘communicating about the potential development of by-laws and regulations related to autonomous driving technologies, including as it relates to operational authorizations, commercial operations, goods delivery operations and ridehail operations,” Elliott wrote.