Alphabet’s Waymo, which serves as a direct rival to General Motors’ Cruise in the autonomous driving sector, has released a voluntary recall after two of its robotaxi units struck the same truck in Phoenix, Arizona.
In December 2023, a Waymo AV hit a backwards-facing pickup that the autonomous driving company claims was being improperly towed, and angled in such a way as to fool the robotaxi’s AV technology. Following the contact, the tow truck continued on its way without pulling over or stopping. However, just a few minutes later, another Waymo vehicle struck the same truck.
It’s worth noting that neither Waymo robotaxi was transporting any riders at the time of the incident, and that only minor vehicle damage was reported.
In response to this incident, Waymo determined that due to an orientation mismatch, the autonomous driving technology had trouble predicting the future motion of the towed pickup and tow truck. As such, the self-driving subsidiary developed a fix that the software to ensure that this won’t happen again. Notably, the entire fleet was updated between December 20th, 2023 and January 12th, 2024.
“This voluntary recall reflects how seriously we take our responsibility to safely deploy our technology and to transparently communicate with the public,” Waymo Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Peña claimed in a blog post. “We determined that due to the persistent orientation mismatch of the towed pickup truck and tow truck combination, the Waymo AV incorrectly predicted the future motion of the towed vehicle.”
Of course, GM’s Cruise also released a recall for its robotaxi units following the accident where a Cruise AV example unintentionally dragged a pedestrian underneath it after they were struck by a human-driven vehicle. The nature of this recall was notably different than Waymo’s where Cruise AV units are now programmed to remain stationary in the event of an incident in order to minimize collateral damage, depending on the circumstances.
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Comments
Outlaw these roadway menaces now!
So if Waymo can’t detect a towed vehicle’s intention, it crashes into it. Just like a shark sizing up its prey.
It is extremely awkward, if this was GM Cruise, the news would be all over the universe!!!!! This is the first and most likely the onlytime we will hear about Waymo A/v mishaps.
So it’s not just GM Cruise. It’s the AV technology that is the menace.
I’m shocked ……. Shocked !
This maybe No. 17 of 6,780 more scenarios that AV Programming have yet to anticipate or program for.