Incident · Recall
Waymo recalls 3,791 5th/6th-gen ADS vehicles over flooded roadway detection failure
NHTSA recall 26E026 (filed May 6, 2026): on Apr 20, 2026 an unoccupied Waymo AV encountered an untraversable flooded section of a 40 mph roadway, detected the flood water, but proceeded at reduced speed instead of stopping. Waymo implemented interim operational restrictions (weather-related scope controls + map changes) on Apr 20, 2026 and the Safety Board decided to conduct a recall on Apr 24, 2026. Final remedy still in development. No injuries reported.
Occurred 2026-05-06 · Waymo Driver 6th-gen
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /incidents/waymo-flooded-roadway-recall-2026.md
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/incidents/57ea77a6-cdab-4c91-b9ad-1594d63cf77f
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Sources (1)
- NHTSA (Part 573, 26E026) · https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2026/RCLRPT-26E026-6527.pdf
Common questions
- What happened in Waymo recalls 3,791 5th/6th-gen ADS vehicles over flooded roadway detection failure?
- NHTSA recall 26E026 (filed May 6, 2026): on Apr 20, 2026 an unoccupied Waymo AV encountered an untraversable flooded section of a 40 mph roadway, detected the flood water, but proceeded at reduced speed instead of stopping. Waymo implemented interim operational restrictions (weather-related scope controls + map changes) on Apr 20, 2026 and the Safety Board decided to conduct a recall on Apr 24, 2026. Final remedy still in development. No injuries reported.
- When did this incident occur?
- The incident is recorded as occurring on May 6, 2026 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.
- What robot was involved in Waymo recalls 3,791 5th/6th-gen ADS vehicles over flooded roadway detection failure?
- Waymo Driver 6th-gen is the recorded robot involved in this incident.
- Has anyone responded to Waymo recalls 3,791 5th/6th-gen ADS vehicles over flooded roadway detection failure?
- No responses to this incident are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Operators, manufacturers, or affected parties can submit responses to the editorial team; absence is not a guarantee no response was issued.
- What is the current status of Waymo recalls 3,791 5th/6th-gen ADS vehicles over flooded roadway detection failure?
- This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.
Methodology: Unreviewed · 1 source (1 primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-09
Verification posture
Unreviewed
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-07-09
Sources by quality tier
- 1
- primary-regulatory-filing
- Regulatory filing
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
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Canonical ID 57ea77a6-cdab-4c91-b9ad-1594d63cf77f