Waymo recalls 1,200 driverless vehicles for software update

Waymo recalled roughly 1,200 driverless vehicles due to software issues detecting and responding to chains, gates and other similar roadway barriers.

The autonomous driving company has already put out updated software for the automated driving systems (ADS) in the recalled 1,212 driverless Waymo vehicles to remedy the problem, all of which received the update by Dec. 26, according to a recall report submitted Monday to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

"Prior to the Waymo ADS receiving the remedy described in this report, in certain instances, due to the manner in which the object was detected or how the Waymo ADS responded to the detection, Waymo vehicles were involved in collisions with chains, gates, and other gate-like roadway barriers," Waymo said in the report.

The NHTSA said collisions with those types of barriers can increase the risk of injury. None of the 16 reported incidents Waymo has had resulted in any injuries, according to the report. 

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The recall comes approximately a year after the NHTSA, spurred by instances of crashes with objects like gates and chains, launched a "preliminary evaluation" into the company’s ADS. Waymo already had software updates "in progress" when that began, the company said in the recall report.  

"Waymo provides more than 250,000 paid trips every week in some of the most challenging driving environments in the U.S. 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," a Waymo spokesperson told FOX Business Wednesday. 

"NHTSA plays a vital role in road safety, and we will continue to work collaboratively with the agency as part of our mission to be the world’s most trusted driver."

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The software update that Waymo installed has "significantly" decreased the chance of accidents involving chains, gates and similar barriers, according to the recall report. 

Waymo’s vehicles offer driverless rides in four cities — Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin — with Atlanta, Miami and Washington, D.C., slated to get its autonomous ride-hailing next year. 

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Waymo, which is headquartered in California, traces its origins to 2009, when it was known as the Google Self-Driving Car Project. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, turned the project into a subsidiary in 2016.