Waymo Recalls Software After Self-Driving Car Hits Towed Truck in Phoenix

Waymo filed a safety recall with federal regulators after two of its self-driving cars got into minor accidents in Phoenix on the same day in December 2023. Both incidents involved improperly towed vehicles that the cars' computer systems didn't recognize in time. No one was injured, and damage was minimal.

The filing is notable because it shows how companies are handling safety issues in autonomous vehicles — different from how traditional car manufacturers recall cars. Instead of fixing a broken part, Waymo is fixing the software that helps the car "see" and understand the road.

What Happened in Phoenix

Both incidents occurred on December 11, 2023, in Phoenix, where Waymo runs a robotaxi service (self-driving cars you can ride in). In the main incident, a Waymo vehicle struck a pickup truck that was being towed backwards. The towed truck was positioned at an angle, blocking both a turn lane and an active traffic lane.

The unusual setup created what engineers call an "edge case" — a rare, unexpected situation that the car's AI hadn't been trained to handle well. The backwards-facing truck and its odd positioning confused the car's perception system, which couldn't clearly identify it as something to avoid.

Think of it like this: if you've mostly learned to recognize cars by seeing them facing forward, a backwards truck at an awkward angle might momentarily confuse you too, even if only for a split second.

The Software Fix

Waymo began rolling out a software update to all its cars in December 2023 to fix the problem. The update improved how the system classifies objects on the road and plans routes around obstacles.

This type of gradual learning and fixing is how modern self-driving systems improve. Each real-world accident or near-miss — if it's captured and analyzed — feeds back into training the AI to handle new scenarios.

Why This Recall Matters Differently

This recall works differently from the car recalls you may have heard about before. Traditional recalls fix manufacturing problems in physical parts. This one fixes how the software interprets what the car sees.

Because Waymo's cars are connected to the internet, the company can update them remotely, the same way you update your phone. The car doesn't need to go to a dealership. The fix happens automatically.

The company's decision to file this recall voluntarily — even though the accidents were minor — suggests that autonomous vehicle companies are being transparent with regulators about safety issues. This kind of open communication is still taking shape as the industry matures.

Why This Happens

Autonomous vehicles face a challenge that robots in factories don't: they operate on real roads, where there are endless variations. A towed truck at an odd angle, a construction zone, an emergency vehicle parked sideways — the real world is messier than what a computer can simulate in a lab.

When Waymo runs its cars in Phoenix, they encounter situations that didn't come up in testing. Each one teaches the system something new. The company learns from these encounters and shares the fix with all its cars at once, rather than each car learning the hard way independently.

Over time, this collective learning makes the whole fleet safer. But it also explains why most autonomous vehicle companies are expanding city by city, rather than trying to operate everywhere at once. Each new city brings new challenges.

What Happens Next

For Waymo's customers in Phoenix, this update likely meant nothing disruptive. The cars improved quietly, without stopping service or going offline.

The two incidents on the same day suggest either that the old software had a systematic weakness when encountering certain towed vehicles, or simply bad luck — two unusual situations happening to occur at once. Either way, Waymo identified the problem and deployed a fix within weeks.

The ability to update software over the air gives self-driving car companies a real advantage over traditional car makers. But it also puts pressure on them to test carefully. A mistake in a software update could introduce new problems that affect many cars at once. That's why this kind of transparent reporting to regulators matters — it keeps the industry accountable as it scales.