Waymo Recalls Nearly 3,800 Robotaxis After One Drives Into Flooded Road

SAN ANTONIO/WASHINGTON (May 13, 2026) — Alphabet-owned Waymo has recalled its entire U.S. robotaxi fleet of 3,791 vehicles after a software defect allowed an autonomous vehicle to drive into a flooded, impassable roadway and be swept into a creek, federal safety regulators disclosed Tuesday. The recall, the company’s third since February 2024, adds to a growing body of regulatory actions that personal injury attorneys say warrants close scrutiny of the autonomous vehicle operator’s safety record and legal exposure.

Waymo Driving Into Flooded Zones

The recall traces back to an April 20 incident in San Antonio, where an unoccupied Waymo robotaxi encountered “an untraversable flooded section of a roadway.” Rather than routing around the danger, the vehicle proceeded into the floodwater at a reduced speed and was ultimately swept into Salado Creek. No passengers were on board, and no injuries were reported, but the car had to be recovered from the waterway days later. 

The issue, according to the NHTSA, is that Waymo’s robotaxis were slowing but not stopping when encountering flooded roads they could not traverse. The distinction is legally significant: the vehicle detected a hazard but failed to execute an appropriate response — a gap between perception and action that lies at the heart of autonomous vehicle negligence analysis. 

Waymo autonomous vehicles in Austin, Texas, were also recently seen on camera driving onto a flooded street and stalling, requiring other drivers to navigate around them. That separate incident, involving occupied vehicles, underscores that the software defect posed risks not only to Waymo’s property but potentially to passengers and other motorists. 

Scope of the Recall

Waymo filed the voluntary recall with NHTSA on April 30. It affects vehicles equipped with both fifth- and sixth-generation automated driving systems across all of Waymo’s operating cities: Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, San Antonio, and Atlanta. 

As an interim measure, the Alphabet subsidiary has tightened its operational parameters by increasing weather-related constraints and updating its map data to restrict vehicle access to roads that may be affected by flooding. NHTSA documents confirm Waymo is still “developing the final remedy for this recall,” meaning no permanent software fix has yet been deployed. 

The remedy will be delivered as an over-the-air software update, requiring no vehicle to visit a service center — a mechanism that, while efficient, means the fleet continues operating under an interim patch rather than a verified final fix.

Waymo’s Pattern of Safety Failures

The flooding recall does not exist in isolation. Regulators have accumulated a significant docket of safety actions against Waymo in recent months.

NHTSA has an open investigation after a Waymo robotaxi struck a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica, California, on January 23. The vehicle was running on Waymo’s 5th Generation Automated Driving System with no human safety supervisor present. The child ran across the street from behind a double-parked SUV toward the school and was struck. The NHTSA’s preliminary evaluation will examine whether the Waymo Driver exercised appropriate caution given its proximity to an elementary school during drop-off hours. 

As of April, the Austin Independent School District had documented at least 24 instances of Waymo vehicles illegally passing its school buses during the 2025–2026 school year, including incidents that occurred after a software update was deployed. The National Transportation Safety Board has opened a separate investigation into those violations. 

Waymo also recalled 1,212 robotaxis in May 2025 over collisions with stationary roadway barriers such as chains and gates, following a NHTSA preliminary evaluation that cited at least seven incidents between December 2022 and April 2024. The company’s first ADS software recall came in February 2024 after two robotaxis in Phoenix separately struck the same improperly towed pickup truck. 

Waymo said in a statement that “safety is our primary priority” and that it is working on “additional software safeguards,” including “refining extreme weather operations during periods of intense rain” and “limiting access to areas where flash flooding might occur.” The company said it was preparing to resume public rides in San Antonio.

Waymo did not respond to questions about the timeline for finalizing the permanent software remedy.