Waymo, the autonomous vehicle company operated by Alphabet, has announced that it will voluntarily recall software following an unusual accident in December.
On December 11, 2023, two Waymo autonomous cars collided with the same vehicle just minutes apart. According to Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Pena, a Waymo vehicle smacked into a backward-facing pickup truck that was being towed ahead of the self-driving car. Per the company, the truck being towed was straddling traffic and center turn lanes.
After the Waymo AV made contact, the tow truck driver failed to pull over and continued driving. In a bizarre twist, a different Waymo car crashed into the same pickup truck being improperly towed. Neither vehicle was transporting passengers during the respective incidents, and both cars had minimal damage.
Waymo looked into the matter and discovered that the orientation mismatch of the pickup truck and tow truck led the Waymo cars to predict the towed vehicle’s movements inaccurately.