Waymo Just Recalled A Bunch Of Robotaxis Because They Could Drive Into Closed Highway Construction Lanes

It's the second Waymo recall in the last two months, after an earlier flaw allowed them to drive through flooded roads.

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Mack Hogan

By: Mack Hogan

Jun 18, at 9:57am ET

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Waymo issued a recall for all of its vehicles using the 5th Generation Automated Driving System after they entered closed construction zones on the freeway.
The vehicles traveled at freeway speeds in closed lanes, which Waymo noted "increases the potential for collisions."
This is the second Waymo recall in under two months, as an earlier software fix addressed an issue where the cars could drive into flooded lanes of traffic on higher-speed roads.

Waymo recalled all 3,871 of its robotaxis using its 5th Generation Automated Driving System (ADS) on Wednesday, over concerns that the vehicles could drive at highway speeds into lanes closed for construction. The recall, first reported by Reuters, comes after multiple instances of the robotaxis either driving onto closed highway onramps or into closed lanes on active freeways.

"Under certain circumstances, the AV may enter and drive at speed in freeway construction zones due to inappropriately prioritizing the avoidance of other freeway hazards and/or failing to recognize the construction zone," the recall notice says.

The notice describes the two sets of issues that prompted the fleet-wide recall:

On April 20, 2026, Waymo’s Field Safety Committee began a series of meetings reviewing one event from April 11, 2026 and five events from April 19, 2026 in which Waymo AVs did not recognize and drove past ramp closure signs into pre-planned freeway construction zones in Phoenix, AZ. Waymo’s Field Safety Committee implemented freeway driving restrictions until operational mitigations that included improved awareness and response to freeway closures were implemented.

On May 19, 2026, Waymo’s Field Safety Committee met following events on May 18, 2026 in which seven Waymo AVs entered freeway lanes with active construction in the San Francisco Bay Area by driving between cones designating lane closure in the adjacent lane due to the ADS inappropriately prioritizing the avoidance of other freeway hazards and/or failing to recognize the construction zone. Considering these and other events, Waymo’s Field Safety Committee implemented freeway

I don't want to editorialize too much, here, but let's just say you really don't want to drive on closed freeways or blocked off construction lanes. It's both illegal and highly dangerous. The good news is that there's no reported injuries or deaths associated with the issue, and it'll be remedied by a software update. Since Waymo owns its own fleet, too, it won't have to worry about owners who don't update their software.

I'll note, too, that this applies to vehicles using the 5th-gen ADS. That means the new Zeekr Ojai vans—which just entered service—should not be affected, as they use a new 6th-generation ADS.

The recall comes less than a year after Waymos first gained the capability to operate on freeways in certain markets, which was a huge step for the company. For most of its history, its testing and ride-sharing service has been focused on surface streets. The high-speed, high-stakes game of highway driving was a new frontier for Waymo, and this recall proves that the company still has tough lessons to learn.

Of course, we were reminded of that less than two months ago. Waymo recalled all of its 5th-gen ADS vehicles on May 6 over concerns that they would fail to stop for flooded roads on high-speed highways. The company ended up embarrassed after one of its I-Paces drove into deep flood waters and stranded itself.

What do you think?

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Point is, it hasn't been easy going for Waymo. But the company seems undeterred; it is aggressively expanding in the U.S. and planning to launch in global markets like London this year. Let's just hope it knows how to navigate British construction zones.

Contact the author: Mack.Hogan@insideevs.com.

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