The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched an investigation into Waymo following reports that the company’s robotaxis illegally passed stopped school buses in Austin, Texas.
one in Letter In a letter sent to Waymo on Wednesday, the federal regulator’s Office of Fault Investigation asked for detailed information on Waymo’s fifth-generation self-driving system and expressed concern that the Alphabet-owned company’s vehicles were showing unpredictable or illegal behavior around school buses.
The letter comes after the watchdog launched an investigation into the firm following an incident involving a stationary school bus in Georgia in October. Video footage shows one of Waymo’s autonomous vehicles passing a stopped school bus with red lights flashing and weapons deployed at the stop. In response, Waymo Said Safety is its top priority and it has already issued software updates to its fleet to resolve the issue.
However, it appears that the problem persists. one in Letter On November 20, Austin Independent School District said it had evidence of 19 separate incidents in which Waymo vehicles were recorded driving past stopped school buses since the beginning of the school year. At least five of these occurred after the company said it had released an update to fix the problem.
The school district asked Waymo to cease self-driving operations around school pick-up and drop-off times. District told reuters The company had denied stopping operations around schools and claimed that there had been another incident involving an actively loading school bus on December 1. email On November 24, NHTSA explicitly asked Waymo to “let us know if you have ceased or plan to cease operations during these times as requested,” and to confirm whether a software fix had been implemented.
This is not the first time that Waymo has come under regulatory scrutiny for its self-driving cars. For example, in 2024, federal regulators launched an investigation Following reports of erratic driving potentially breaking the law. This comes as the company expands into new markets, with launches expected in more than 20 cities in the coming years.
A Waymo spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on the investigation.
