— Waymo crash reports caused a federal investigation in May 2024 that is now closed without the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration taking additional action.
The federal Waymo investigation was opened after crash reports and strange behaviors of Waymo's 5th Generation automated driving systems. Some crashes occurred when the Waymo vehicles were the only vehicles involved.
In other cases, the automated systems caused the vehicles to violate traffic laws.
The government reviewed a pattern of crashes where the Waymo self-driving vehicles hit stationary or semi-stationary objects such as gates, barriers and chains.
NHTSA found 367 total reports, with 109 of those reports involving vehicle crashes, with one crash causing an injury. Safety investigators learned how the vehicles apparently experienced problems when entering construction zones and when trying to respond to traffic control devices.
In a May 2024 crash, an unoccupied 5th Generation Waymo driverless vehicle struck a utility pole.
Waymo issued two safety recalls during the investigation to update software to improve how the vehicles respond to objects. The automated driving system was also updated to help the vehicles detect and avoid road objects the vehicles had previously been hitting.
NHTSA described the barriers as "chains strung across the path of travel, gates, and other gate-like roadway barriers."
The probe is closed based on NHTSA's investigation of the data and Waymo's actions to improve the automated driving systems.