Waymo robotaxi strikes utility pole in Phoenix alley, prompting recall
An empty Waymo robotaxi hit a wooden utility pole in a Phoenix alley during a low-speed pullover on May 21, 2024. Waymo recalled software and maps on 672 vehicles.
Key facts
- On May 21, 2024, a Waymo vehicle in Phoenix collided with a wooden utility pole in an alley while performing a low-speed pullover.
- There were no passengers or other road users involved and no injuries; the Waymo vehicle was damaged.
- Waymo told NHTSA the software could assign a low damage score to a pole-like object and fail to avoid it when the map lacked a hard road edge in front of it.
- Recall 24E-049, filed June 10, 2024, covered 672 Waymo vehicles.
- The fix combined a software update with map changes adding a hard road edge between poles and the drivable surface.
What happened
On May 21, 2024, a Waymo robotaxi operating in Phoenix, Arizona, was carrying out a low-speed pullover maneuver in an alley when it collided with a wooden utility pole located within the alley.
According to the recall report Waymo filed with NHTSA, there were no passengers in the vehicle, no other road users were involved and no one was injured. The Waymo vehicle sustained some damage.
The system involved
The vehicle ran Waymo’s 5th Generation Automated Driving System in driverless service. Waymo told NHTSA a collision could occur when four conditions were all true: a pole or pole-like permanent object stood within the road boundaries and the map had no hard road edge between it and the drivable surface; the perception system gave the object a low damage score; the object was in the vehicle’s intended path, such as during a pullover; and no other nearby objects prompted the system to steer away.
Investigation and response
Waymo’s Field Safety Committee began reviewing the event on May 22, 2024. The company updated the driving software on all affected vehicles between May 29 and June 3, 2024, and produced map updates so that by June 6 every affected vehicle was using a map that marks a hard road edge between pole-like objects and the drivable surface.
On June 5, 2024, Waymo’s Safety Board decided the earlier software and map combination warranted a report to NHTSA, and on June 10 Waymo filed Part 573 recall report 24E-049 covering 672 vehicles. Because Waymo owns all the vehicles and had already applied the remedy, no owner notifications were required. The Associated Press described the recall as covering the company’s entire fleet.
Outcomes
- Waymo updated its driving software between May 29 and June 3, 2024, and its maps by June 6, 2024.
- On June 10, 2024, Waymo filed recall 24E-049 covering 672 vehicles.
Sources
- Part 573 Safety Recall Report 24E-049NHTSA, June 10, 2024
- Waymo recalls more than 600 self-driving vehicles for updates after one strikes Phoenix poleAssociated Press via ABC15 Arizona