304. The Recall

Waymo is recalling 4,000 robotaxis after some of them drove into freeway construction zones at highway speeds.

Waymo's CEO, Dmitri Dolgov, has described the Waymo system as incredibly safe. He has said this on multiple occasions, in public, to journalists and at conferences. Waymo has published safety reports. The reports include statistics. The statistics, when compared to human drivers on the same routes, show that Waymo vehicles are involved in fewer accidents per mile. This is documented.

Construction zones have been in the same place the whole time.

(I want to note something: orange cones, construction zone speed limit signs, lane closures marked with flashing arrows, workers in reflective vests — these are the standard signals human drivers have been processing since the early twentieth century. The cones did not move. The signs did not change. The speeds at which some of the recalled vehicles entered these zones were highway speeds, which is a category of speed not generally associated with zones where workers are standing on the road.)

4,000 vehicles is the number being recalled. This is a large number but it is important to note that Waymo operates tens of thousands of trips per week and has completed millions of driverless rides. The incidents represent a subset of that activity. The company identified the issue, is issuing the recall, and has said it is committed to safety.

Dmitri Dolgov still says the system is incredibly safe. He is probably right, statistically, when compared to the right baseline. The comparison depends a great deal on which baseline.

The construction zones remain in place. This was not considered a factor requiring adjustment. The recall addresses the vehicles.

Workers in reflective vests were unavailable for comment. They were working.