Waymo recalls more than 600 self-driving vehicles
Waymo is recalling more than 600 self-driving vehicles after one of them struck a telephone pole in Arizona.
The recall includes 672 vehicles, which is the entire fleet.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in its report that last month a driverless Waymo vehicle hit a wooden utility pole in Phoenix, Arizona while it was in an alleyway and trying to perform a low-speed pullover maneuver.
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There were no passengers, other road users, or injuries associated with the event, the report said. There was some damage to the Waymo vehicle.
Waymo has completed a software update that improves the automated driving system’s response to poles or pole-like permanent objects. It also provided a map update to include a hard road edge between the pole or pole-like object and the driveable surface.
Waymo is currently under investigation after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received 22 reports of Waymo vehicles either crashing or doing something that may have violated traffic laws.
In the crashes, the Waymo vehicles hit stationary objects such as gates, chains or parked vehicles. Some of the incidents happened shortly after the Waymo driving system behaved unexpectedly near traffic control devices, according to the documents.
Waymo launched its driverless cars in Los Angeles in March. At that time, it was offering free rides from Santa Monica to downtown.