Federal regulators examine whether Waymo vehicles are continuing to ignore stopped school buses

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched a recall query to determine whether Waymo's robotaxis are still illegally driving past stopped school buses. While Waymo completed an over-the-air software update across its entire fleet by November 17, 2025, to address the defect, NHTSA stated in a November 6 filing that a majority of the reported passing incidents actually took place after the remedy date. [2][3]

The initial federal defect investigation began in October 2025 after video showed a Waymo autonomous vehicle cutting in front of a stopped bus unloading children in Atlanta, Georgia. Similar violations were documented in Austin, Texas, where local school district officials reported at least five occurrences involving buses with extended stop signs and flashing red lights. Waymo maintains that safety is central to its mission and notes it has received no citations since March 2026, pledging to cooperate with the inquiry. [2][3]

The scrutiny adds to a growing list of federal probes into the autonomous driving company. NHTSA is already evaluating a January incident where a Waymo vehicle hit a child in Santa Monica, California, while the National Transportation Safety Board opened its own separate inquiry into how the company's robotaxis behave near school buses earlier this year. [2]