Online Taxi King Suddenly Halts Services, The Reason Is Heartbreaking

Waymo has paused autonomous, driverless taxi services in four cities simultaneously for the time being. The decision comes as the online taxi company has been aggressively developing driverless vehicles in recent months. The four cities affected are San Antonio, Atlanta, Dallas and Houston. The reason is severe weather in each area. San Antonio and Atlanta faced floods. A Waymo driverless taxi became stuck while navigating floodwater on Atlanta streets. The vehicle was stuck for about an hour before being evacuated and moved from the scene. ‘Safety is Waymo’s top priority, for passengers and all other road users with us. During the heavy rain yesterday in Atlanta, a riderless vehicle encountered a flooded road and became stuck,’ Waymo said in a statement cited by TechCrunch on Friday (22 May 2026). Services in Dallas and Houston were also temporarily suspended due to bad weather hitting Texas this week. Waymo said this is a precautionary measure given forecasts of adverse weather. Waymo acknowledged that it has not yet completed the development of a final solution to enable its cars to avoid flooded areas. In a document filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the company only said it had issued updates restricting time and location for high-risk areas such as high-speed roads that are flooded. At the Atlanta incident, Waymo said the storm and floods occurred even before the National Weather Service issued a flood warning. The warning, the company explained, is part of a broader set of signals relied upon to prepare vehicles to handle severe weather. The NHTSA said it was aware of the incident and was in communication with Waymo regarding the issue in Atlanta. ‘And will take appropriate action if necessary,’ said a spokesperson for the agency.