Waymo Recalls 1,200 Self-Driving Taxis After Collisions With Gates, Road Barriers

Waymo, the self-driving taxi service owned by Google’s parent company, is recalling 1,212 vehicles operating in San Francisco, Phoenix and Austin after they repeatedly collided with gates, chains and other roadside barriers.

The voluntary recall, which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) publicized Wednesday, covers cars running Waymo’s fifth-generation automated driving code and follows a federal investigation opened last year into a series of low-speed barrier crashes. The recall coincides with NHTSA’s letter to Tesla expressing concern over Robotaxis’ ability to manage uncommon roadway hazards.

“Waymo provides more than 250,000 paid trips every week in some of the most challenging driving environments in the U.S.,” the company told the 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation, adding they plan to “work collaboratively” with NHTSA. “We hold ourselves to a high safety standard, and our record of reducing injuries over tens of millions of fully autonomous miles driven shows our technology is making roads safer.”

NHTSA’s probe began after seven taxis struck road barriers between December 2022 and April 2024. Waymo later disclosed nine additional similar collisions, bringing the total to 16 — none resulting in injuries, agency files show. Investigators said