Waymo recalls Robotaxis after collision with telephone pole

Automaker, Waymo has recalled its fleet of Robotaxis following a collision with a telephone pole en route to pick up a passenger, as reported by The Verge.

The accident occurred on May 21st when the unoccupied vehicle struck a pole in an alley, causing some damage but no injuries.

The vehicle was navigating an alley lined with telephone poles at street level, marked with a yellow line indicating the driving path. While pulling over, it collided with a pole at 8 MPH. “It never made it to pick us up,” said Jericka Mitchell, the passenger waiting for the vehicle. Mitchell heard but did not witness the accident.

Waymo has since recalls Robotaxis with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and updated the software in its fleet of 672 self-driving vehicles.

The software update addresses an error that assigned a low damage score to the pole and failed to account for the alleyway’s hard edge.

This marks Waymo’s second recall. Earlier this year, the company recalled vehicles after two autonomous cars collided with the same pickup truck being towed.

The Waymo Recalls Robotaxis issue was attributed to the software’s inability to predict the movements of the towed vehicle due to a “persistent orientation mismatch.”

Additionally, Waymo is under investigation for more than 24 incidents, including crashes and traffic violations. Rival company Cruise, owned by GM, faced a more serious incident last year when one of its robotaxis dragged a pedestrian hit by another vehicle down a San Francisco street.

This led to California suspending Cruise’s license to operate, and the company eventually paused all robotaxi operations.