Waymo Extends Robotaxi Service Suspensions to Four Cities Amid Flood Safety Concerns

Waymo has expanded its robotaxi service suspensions to four U.S. cities as the company continues to address challenges related to heavy rainfall, flooding, and severe weather conditions. The latest disruptions follow flood-related issues that prompted Waymo to issue a software recall for its autonomous vehicle fleet last week.

The most recent incident occurred in Atlanta, where one of Waymo’s robotaxis was reportedly seen driving through a flooded street on Wednesday before eventually becoming stranded. According to local reports, the autonomous vehicle remained stuck for roughly an hour before being recovered and removed from the area. Waymo later confirmed that the vehicle was not carrying any passengers at the time of the incident.

Following the event, the company decided to suspend service in Atlanta while engineers work on additional solutions designed to improve the robotaxis’ ability to identify and avoid flooded roadways. The move mirrors a similar service suspension already in place in San Antonio, where Waymo has also paused operations due to concerns about flood-prone conditions.

In a statement addressing the Atlanta incident, Waymo emphasised that safety remains its highest priority for both passengers and other road users. The company explained that during a period of particularly intense rainfall in Atlanta, an unoccupied autonomous vehicle encountered a flooded roadway and came to a stop.

The company’s weather-related service disruptions now extend beyond Atlanta and San Antonio. Waymo confirmed late Thursday that it had also temporarily halted robotaxi operations in Dallas and Houston due to severe weather affecting large portions of Texas. Bloomberg News first reported the broader expansion of service pauses.

According to a Waymo spokesperson, the decision to suspend operations in Dallas and Houston was made as a precautionary measure based on forecasts predicting potentially dangerous weather conditions. By pausing service before severe storms arrived, the company aimed to reduce the likelihood that vehicles would encounter flooded streets or other hazardous roadway conditions.

The latest disruptions highlight an issue Waymo acknowledged when announcing its recent software recall. At the time, the company admitted it had not yet completed development of a permanent solution to keep robotaxis away from flooded areas. Instead, engineers deployed an interim software update intended to reduce exposure to locations and situations where vehicles faced an elevated risk of encountering floodwaters, particularly on higher-speed roads.

Documents released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicated that the software update imposed operational restrictions in areas and during time periods associated with a greater likelihood of flooding. However, the Atlanta incident suggests that those temporary safeguards may not fully prevent autonomous vehicles from entering hazardous, water-covered roadways amid rapidly changing weather conditions.

Waymo explained that the rainfall event in Atlanta developed unusually quickly. According to the company, flooding began occurring before the National Weather Service had issued a flash flood warning, watch, or advisory. The company noted that National Weather Service alerts form part of a broader collection of data signals used to help determine when vehicles should adjust operations or prepare for severe weather conditions.

In response to questions regarding the stranded robotaxi, an NHTSA spokesperson confirmed that the agency is aware of the incident and remains in communication with Waymo. The regulator stated that it will take any action deemed appropriate based on the facts and circumstances surrounding the event.

The flooding-related challenges represent another example of the difficulties Waymo has faced in addressing unexpected behaviour in its autonomous vehicle fleet. Last year, several Waymo robotaxis were observed illegally driving around stopped school buses. Although the company released a software update intended to correct the behaviour, additional incidents were later reported, indicating that the issue had not been fully resolved.

Those school bus incidents remain at the centre of one of two ongoing federal investigations involving Waymo. Both the NHTSA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) continue to examine the company’s actions and response to the problem.

As part of that investigation, Waymo has already provided documentation to the NHTSA, although the materials made available publicly were heavily redacted. On May 15, the safety regulator issued a second request for information, stating that the company’s initial submission required additional supporting data and details to complete its review.

Waymo is also facing scrutiny from federal transportation authorities over a separate incident that occurred on January 23 in Santa Monica. In that case, a robotaxi collided with a child. According to Waymo, the vehicle reduced its speed to approximately 6 miles per hour before the impact. The company stated that the child sustained minor injuries. The NHTSA and NTSB are both actively reviewing that crash as part of broader efforts to evaluate the safety performance of autonomous vehicle systems operating on public roads.

As Waymo continues to expand its robotaxi services across the United States, the company faces increasing pressure to demonstrate that its autonomous driving technology can safely handle complex, rapidly changing conditions, including flooding, severe storms, and other weather-related hazards. For now, operations remain paused in Atlanta, San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston while engineers work on additional improvements designed to strengthen the fleet’s response to extreme weather events.