Waymo has paused all freeway service as it updates software to help its cars better navigate construction zones on freeways, the robotaxi company said.
Before its suspension, freeway rides were available only in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Miami.
Waymo did not cite a specific incident or confirm any performance issues near freeway construction zones, but on Monday, X user @Elliot_slade posted a video claiming a Waymo he was riding in blasted through construction cones on a freeway and was subsequently chased by police.
“We have temporarily paused freeway operations, as we work to integrate recent technical learnings into our software and expect to resume these routes soon,” a Waymo spokesperson said in an email statement.
A Waymo spokesperson did not say when freeway service or service in those four cities would resume, saying only that it expects to do so “soon.”
This isn’t the first time Waymo has issued recalls for its vehicles. In February 2024, the company issued a recall after two of its cars in Phoenix crashed into the same car while it was being towed. It also issued recalls relating to Waymos colliding with gates, chains, telephone poles, and erratic behavior around school buses. Separately, Waymo is being investigated (opens in new tab) by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after one of its cars struck a child near a school in Santa Monica in January. The child sustained minor injuries.
The flooding incidents are not the first time Waymo vehicles have struggled with unexpected conditions in the field.
During a PG&E power outage in San Francisco last December, Waymo’s fleet stalled more than 1,500 times for two minutes or longer, blocking intersections and, in at least one case, a fire truck responding to an active fire. The city’s 911 dispatch center called Waymo 31 times that night; one dispatcher was kept on hold for 53 minutes.
At a Board of Supervisors hearing in March, Waymo apologized for its response to the blackout but acknowledged that it still expects San Francisco first responders to help move malfunctioning driverless cars. “In a sense, they’re becoming a default roadside assistance service for these vehicles, which we do not think is tenable,” Mary Ellen Carroll, executive director of the city’s Department of Emergency Management, said at the hearing.