Waymo 'recalled' software over last year's collision of two robotaxis at once with a pickup truck

In December last year, two Waymo robotaxis collided with the same pickup truck in Phoenix, which was on a tow truck, prompting this Alphabet subsidiary to recall the software of its vehicles. In this case, "recall" meant updating the software after investigating the issue and determining its root cause.

Waymo reported that on December 11, 2023, one of its robotaxis collided with a pickup truck that was being towed in reverse. The company claims that the pickup was being towed incorrectly, at an angle to the turnaround lane and the traffic lane. The tow truck did not stop after the incident, and a few minutes later another Waymo vehicle collided with the pickup truck. Waymo did not specify what it meant by saying that its robotaxi "collided" with the pickup truck, but noted that no one was injured as a result of the incidents and the vehicles only sustained minor damage. The autonomous vehicles involved in the collisions did not have any passengers on board.

After the investigation, Waymo found that its software incorrectly predicted the future movements of the pickup truck due to "constant misalignment of orientation" between the towed vehicle and the one towing it. The company developed and approved fixes for its software to prevent similar incidents in the future, and began deploying updates in its fleet on December 20, as reported by Engadget.