AI incident ·
Waymo Robotaxi Reportedly Entered Flooded San Antonio Roadway and Was Swept Into Waterway
In brief
An AI system built by Waymo and Automated Driving System Developers and deployed by Waymo, Robotaxi Operators and 1 other allegedly harmed Waymo and Road Users.
- Risk domain
- Not classified
- Occurred
- Coverage
- 4 reports
What happened
An unoccupied Waymo robotaxi reportedly entered a flooded roadway near Salado Creek in San Antonio on April 20, 2026, and was swept into a nearby waterway. Waymo told regulators that the vehicle detected potentially untraversable floodwater but proceeded at reduced speed. No passengers were aboard and no injuries were reported. Waymo restricted operations and later recalled 3,791 fifth- and sixth-generation automated driving systems.
Laws that address this harm
No recorded instrument yet addresses this use case where it happened. See the open queue.
Matched from the record's risk domain and country to the instruments recorded here. A reviewer can correct the match in the repository (data/external/incident_overrides.yaml).
News reports (4)
Titles link to the original publisher; report text is not reproduced here.
Who was involved
- Alleged deployer
- Waymo, Robotaxi Operators, Automated Driving System Deployers
- Alleged developer
- Waymo, Automated Driving System Developers
- Alleged harmed party
- Waymo, Road Users
Classification (MIT AI Risk Repository taxonomy)
- Risk domain
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- Risk subdomain
- —
- Causal entity
- —
- Intent
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- Timing
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- Harm level
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- Sectors
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Other incidents involving Waymo, Robotaxi Operators, Automated Driving System Deployers
- Waymo Robotaxi Reportedly Remained Immobilized While Vandals Smashed Vehicle with Passenger Inside
- Waymo Robotaxi Reportedly Obstructed Ambulance Responding to Austin Mass Shooting
- Waymo Robotaxi Reportedly Entered Phoenix Light-Rail Tracks, Prompting Passenger to Exit
- Two Waymo Robotaxis Allegedly Contributed to Bike-Lane Collision That Injured San Francisco Cyclist
Source record: incident #1544 on the AI Incident Database · all 4 reports