Waymo, the company behind those driverless taxis you might have seen in cities like San Francisco and Phoenix, has just updated the software in more than 1,200 of its vehicles. The update addresses problems with the cars hitting chains, gates, and similar barriers on the road.
What Happened?
Between 2022 and late 2024, Waymo's self-driving cars were involved in 16 collisions with roadway barriers. Thankfully, nobody was hurt in these incidents. The company says it fixed the problem back in November 2024 with a software update that helps the cars better recognize and avoid these obstacles.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had been looking into these issues, prompting Waymo to recall the vehicles—though this only meant updating their computer systems, not taking cars off the road.
"We hold ourselves to a high safety standard," a Waymo spokesperson told The Robot Report. "Our record of reducing injuries over tens of millions of fully autonomous miles driven shows our technology is making roads safer."
This isn't the first time Waymo has had to make such updates. Last year, they recalled 672 robotaxis after one drove into a telephone pole in Phoenix, Arizona.
Growing Fast While Focusing on Safety
Despite these challenges, Waymo has become the leader in self-driving taxis in America. The company now provides more than 250,000 paid rides every week across four major cities. It operates over 1,500 vehicles and has big expansion plans.
In the coming years, Waymo plans to launch services in Miami, Atlanta, Washington D.C., and even Tokyo, Japan. They've also announced plans to explore Boston and are currently on a 10-city road trip across the United States, visiting places like Dallas, Las Vegas, and Nashville.
The company's achievements haven't gone unnoticed—The Robot Report named Waymo the "2025 Robot of the Year," with the award presented at the Robotics Summit & Expo in Boston just two weeks ago.
Are Self-Driving Cars Actually Safer?
Waymo seems committed to proving its vehicles are safer than human drivers. The company makes its performance data public so anyone can analyze how its cars are doing.
In December, Waymo shared research with Swiss Re, a major insurance provider, looking at collision data from 25.3 million miles of fully autonomous driving. The results were impressive:
- 88% fewer property damage claims compared to human drivers
- 92% fewer bodily injury claims
For the same distance that resulted in just 9 property damage claims and 2 bodily injury claims for Waymo, human drivers would typically have 78 property damage claims and 26 bodily injury claims.
Waymo has also partnered with Toyota to develop autonomous driving technology for personally-owned vehicles, meaning we might someday see this technology in regular cars, not just taxis.
As self-driving technology continues to evolve, these updates and recalls show that companies are still working out the kinks—but the data suggests these robot drivers might already be safer than many humans behind the wheel.
