Waymo expands pause to four cities as robotaxis keep driving into floods

Waymo has paused robotaxi service in four cities — Atlanta, San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston — after its vehicles were found driving into flooded roads despite a software recall issued the previous week. In Atlanta, an unoccupied Waymo vehicle entered a flooded intersection and was stuck for about an hour. Waymo acknowledged that its interim software fix, which restricts operations based on National Weather Service alerts, was insufficient because the Atlanta storm caused flooding before any official warnings were issued. NHTSA is monitoring the situation. The flooding incidents add to Waymo's existing regulatory troubles, including ongoing NHTSA and NTSB investigations into robotaxis illegally passing school buses and a January crash involving a child in Santa Monica.