May 14 (Reuters) -
Alphabet's Waymo is recalling a majority of its
self-driving vehicles due to a software glitch after some cars
collided with roadway barriers, the company said on Wednesday.
The recall affects 1,212 Waymo vehicles operating on the
company's older fifth-generation automated driving system (ADS)
software.
Waymo has over 1,500 vehicles on the road across San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin.
The affected vehicles, some of which collided with chains,
gates and other gate-like barriers, did not result in any
injuries, Waymo said in a report filed with the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration.
The issue has been fixed with its latest sixth-generation
self-driving software, Waymo said, adding that it had deployed
its latest ADS software version across its entire fleet by the
end of December.
Self-driving vehicle companies, including Waymo and General
Motors' Cruise, have come under increased regulatory
scrutiny following a 2023 incident where a pedestrian was
seriously injured by a Cruise vehicle.
Waymo recalled over 670 vehicles last June after one of them
struck a wooden utility pole in Phoenix, Arizona in May.
That recall came after an NHTSA investigation into Waymo
following 22 reports of Waymo's robotaxis exhibiting driving
behavior that potentially violated traffic safety laws, or
demonstrating other "unexpected behavior," including 17
collisions.
(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil
D'Silva)