SAN FRANCISCO, June 24 (San Francisco News Online) — Waymo has filed a voluntary recall for 3,871 vehicles in the United States equipped with its fifth-generation automated driving system after federal safety regulators said the software could let a vehicle enter a closed freeway construction zone and keep driving, prompting the company to restrict freeway service while it develops a fix.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal motor vehicle safety regulator, said the condition increases the risk of a crash. The agency identified the recall as campaign 26E035000 in a manufacturer report dated June 12.
Waymo said the remedy is under development and that it has already modified vehicle operations to limit freeway driving in the meantime. The company said the software update will be provided free of charge once it is ready.
In an email statement cited by CNBC, Waymo said it had identified a need for improvement around freeway construction sites and had voluntarily limited freeway operations last month while it worked on changes and notified state and federal regulators.
The filing gives the recall a local tie for San Francisco because it includes incidents in the San Francisco Bay Area. According to the report as summarized by Fox News, seven Waymo vehicles entered active freeway construction lanes in the Bay Area on May 18 by driving between cones.
The same filing reviewed other incidents in Phoenix, including one on April 11 and five on April 19. In those cases, the vehicles passed ramp closure signs and entered pre-planned freeway construction zones, according to the report.
Fox News reported that Waymo said no collisions or injuries were reported in the incidents reviewed. The recall centers on freeway behavior, not on the company’s street-level service, and Waymo said it continues to serve passengers on surface streets in the cities where it operates.
The federal filing does not say when the remedy will be finished. Until then, Waymo said freeway driving remains restricted while the company works on the update.