Waymo Pauses Robotaxi Services Due to Flooding Issues Waymo’s rapid expansion of robotaxi services has run headlong into a basic challenge of real-world driving: how to safely handle sudden flooding and complex road conditions, forcing the company into a rare nationwide slowdown.

In early May, Waymo filed a report with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and issued a software recall after one of its vehicles drove through a flooded roadway in San Antonio. The report warned that on higher-speed roads, “the Waymo AV may slow but not stop in response to detecting a potentially untraversable flooded lane,” prompting a pause in public rider service there while engineers worked on an update.

A week later, the company rolled out a software remedy that did not fully solve the underlying problem. Instead of a complete fix, Waymo admitted it had not finished developing a “final remedy” and instead deployed an update that imposed “restrictions at times and in locations where there is an elevated risk of encountering a flooded, higher-speed roadway.”

On May 21, the limitations were exposed again when an unoccupied Waymo robotaxi in Atlanta was seen driving into a flooded street and becoming stuck for about an hour. Waymo said it paused service in Atlanta, mirroring the earlier halt in San Antonio while it worked out a more robust solution, stressing that “safety is Waymo’s top priority, both for our riders and everyone we share the road with.”

By late that week, the pause had widened. Waymo suspended rider service in Atlanta, Nashville, Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, and also temporarily halted freeway operations nationwide to improve performance around construction zones. The company said it expects to resume highway routes once it has integrated “recent technical learnings” into its software.

Regulators are watching closely: NHTSA has said it is aware of the incidents and is in communication with Waymo, while separate investigations continue into other safety concerns involving the company’s autonomous vehicles.

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