Waymo is recalling nearly 4,000 robotaxis after identifying a software issue that allowed some of its autonomous vehicles to drive into closed highway construction zones. The voluntary recall affects approximately 3,900 vehicles equipped with the company’s fifth and sixth generation automated driving systems and comes after at least 13 incidents in Arizona and California. According to filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Waymo has already suspended freeway operations while it develops a permanent software fix.
The company said six incidents occurred in Phoenix during April and seven more happened in the San Francisco Bay Area in May, where robotaxis failed to recognize freeway ramp closure signs or entered active construction areas.
We identified an area of improvement regarding performance around freeway construction zones,” Waymo said in a statement. “We voluntarily restricted freeway operations last month while making improvements, proactively notified state and federal regulators, and decided to file a voluntary software recall with NHTSA.”
Despite the recall, Waymo said it is not removing vehicles from public roads. The company’s robotaxis continue operating on surface streets while freeway service remains suspended until the software update is completed.
According to the NHTSA recall filing, Waymo’s vehicles “did not recognize and drove past ramp closure signs into pre-planned freeway construction zones” during several of the reported incidents. In other cases, the company’s software prioritized avoiding other roadway hazards instead of recognizing active construction zones.
The recall marks the sixth software recall issued by Waymo since launching its commercial robotaxi service and the second in just over a month.
Waymo began offering autonomous freeway rides in late 2025 as part of its expanding robotaxi network. However, after reviewing multiple incidents involving construction zones, the company’s internal safety committee restricted freeway driving in Phoenix before expanding the suspension across all markets on May 19.
Federal filings state that the software fix remains under development, prompting Waymo’s decision to voluntarily notify regulators and issue a nationwide recall rather than continue freeway operations with the existing system.
The latest action follows several other recent safety issues involving Waymo’s autonomous vehicles.
In May 2026, the company recalled roughly 3,800 robotaxis after one vehicle drove into a flooded roadway in San Antonio during severe weather. That software update focused on preventing vehicles from entering flooded roads with higher speed limits.
Last December, Waymo also issued a recall after federal regulators identified problems involving robotaxis illegally passing stopped school buses.
The company has previously recalled software to address low-speed collisions involving chains, gates, telephone poles, and vehicles being towed.
Waymo is also under investigation by both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board following a January incident in Santa Monica, California, in which one of its autonomous vehicles struck a child near an elementary school. The child suffered minor injuries, and investigators are reviewing how the automated driving system behaves around schools and vulnerable pedestrians.
The recall arrives as Alphabet-owned Waymo continues an aggressive global expansion. The company says its autonomous fleet has now driven more than 170 million miles and maintains that its vehicles have demonstrated a 13-times reduction in serious injury or worse crashes compared with human drivers.
Waymo also plans to expand into more than 20 additional cities this year, including London and Tokyo. As deployment grows into new environments, the company continues refining how its autonomous driving system handles uncommon roadway situations, including flooding, school zones, and now highway construction.
One of the construction-zone incidents also gained attention online after passenger Elliot Slade posted video from inside a Waymo vehicle that appeared to continue through a construction area before police intervened.
“There were construction signs,” Slade told CBS News last month. “There were lights going on. Police in the distance and it sped up. That’s when I looked at my fiancée, we’re done. This is it. We’re dead. We’re going to die right here in the Waymo.”
According to CBS News, Waymo later offered Slade three complimentary rides worth up to $40 each.
