Waymo Recalls 1,200 Robotaxis After Low-Speed Collision Issues

Self-driving cars are no longer a futuristic fantasy—they’re already on the roads. But even cutting-edge technology has bumps along the way, and Waymo’s latest robotaxi recall has turned heads across the tech and transportation worlds.

What’s Going On With Waymo’s Robotaxis?

Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving car company, has voluntarily recalled 1,200 of its fully autonomous vehicles following a series of low-speed crashes. The collisions weren’t with other cars or people, but surprisingly, with stationary objects—specifically metal gates and chains in parking lots.

That might not sound serious at first glance, but it raised new questions about how autonomous vehicles “see” the world—and whether they can handle every road scenario safely.

What Exactly Happened?

Back in May 2024, two of Waymo’s vehicles in Phoenix, Arizona collided with the same kind of object—one of those thin chains used to block parking lot entrances. Both incidents occurred at slow speeds, under 10 mph. No one was hurt, and the property damage was minimal. But it was enough to make Waymo take notice.

After investigating, the company discovered that its software didn’t properly recognize suspended barriers like chains hanging between two poles. In both cases, the robotaxis misjudged the chain’s location or failed to detect it altogether.

Why This Matters

While a chain might seem like a small oversight, it reveals a gap in how self-driving systems perceive unusual or less-defined obstacles. And when you’re dealing with autonomous vehicles operating without a driver, even low-speed incidents must be taken seriously.

How Did Waymo Respond?

Once it recognized the problem, Waymo moved quickly to fix it. The company issued a voluntary recall of around 1,200 vehicles—which might sound alarming, but in the world of tech, this is actually a sign of accountability and transparency.

• Waymo updated its software—a patch that improves how its cars detect and react to unusual road barriers like chains or partially open gates.
• All affected vehicles were updated over-the-air, meaning no trips to a repair shop were needed.
• No human injuries or major property damage were reported, making this more of a technical tune-up than a true safety crisis.

The Bigger Picture: Can We Trust Robotaxis?

This situation opens up a bigger conversation: Are self-driving cars really ready for prime time?

Waymo has been operating its robotaxis in cities like Phoenix and San Francisco for several years now, offering rides to passengers without a human driver. For the most part, things have gone smoothly. But as we’ve seen here, unexpected things can still go wrong.

And let’s be honest—if your car can’t detect a hanging chain, would you trust it to safely navigate a busy city street filled with scooters, pets, or unpredictable drivers?

That’s the challenge companies like Waymo face: building a system that not only follows rules and detects common obstacles but also understands strange, rare, or unusual situations.

Tech Companies Are Still Learning — Just Like We Are

I remember once trying to teach my smart home assistant to play a playlist I labeled “Chill Vibes.” Seemed easy. But time and again, it would default to something else—usually “Chili Peppers Greatest Hits” (good music, but not quite the mood I was looking for). Point being, even our smartest digital tools can misunderstand simple things.

The same is true for robotaxis. We’re all still learning how machines understand the world. And when they misunderstand, they need timely updates—just like when your smartphone gets a software patch.

How Does a Software Recall Work?

Unlike traditional car recalls, which might require a trip to a dealership, Waymo’s fix was done entirely through an over-the-air (OTA) update. Think of it like a big system update you’d get on your phone or laptop. The fleet received the update during a scheduled maintenance period.

This is one of the huge benefits of autonomous vehicles—they can be improved remotely, quickly, and broadly. So, while the collisions were an issue, the solution was swift and straightforward.

What’s Next for Waymo—and Self-Driving Cars?

Waymo has confirmed they’ve already resumed full operations with updated vehicles. But that doesn’t mean the conversation ends here.

As autonomous vehicles become a bigger part of daily life, we’ll have to continue working out the kinks. Cities are busy, cluttered, and unpredictable—things humans are pretty good at navigating, but which machines are still figuring out.

Challenges Ahead

Here are a few hurdles self-driving technology still needs to tackle:

• Better perception modeling—to detect unusual or uncommon obstacles like hanging chains or open gates.
• Improved decision-making AI—especially in unpredictable scenarios where “play it safe” is always better than push ahead.
• Public trust—users need to feel confident that these cars can handle not only ideal conditions but the weird, everyday surprises of the road.

Final Thoughts

While the idea of a robotaxi crashing into a parking chain might draw some chuckles, it’s actually a valuable learning moment—not just for Waymo, but for the entire autonomous vehicle industry. No one expects perfection from emerging tech. But we do expect responsibility, and to their credit, Waymo took swift action to make things right.

As self-driving cars continue to learn and grow, so will we. Each recall, update, or misstep is a step forward in understanding how technology fits into our world. So next time you see a robotaxi driving itself down the street, remember—it’s still learning, just like the rest of us.

Would you ride in a self-driving taxi after hearing about this kind of recall? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!