The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has asked Alphabet-owned Waymo for detailed information on its self-driving system after reports that its robotaxis illegally passed stopped school buses at least 19 times this year in Austin, Texas.
In a Dec. 3 letter first reported by Reuters, regulators requested technical data on Waymo’s fifth-generation autonomous driving system, two months after opening a formal investigation into how its vehicles behave around stopped school buses.
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The inquiry followed video footage from Atlanta showing a Waymo robotaxi driving around a school bus with flashing lights and an extended stop sign while children were unloading. Waymo has said the bus partially blocked the vehicle’s path and that its sensors could not detect the lights or stop sign.
Despite a software update the company said was designed to address the issue, the Austin school district reported 19 additional violations since the start of the 2025–26 school year, including at least five cases after the update was deployed on Nov. 17.
“We have already made software updates to improve our performance and are committed to continuous improvement,” Waymo said in a statement, adding that its vehicles show a fivefold reduction in injury-related crashes compared with human drivers.
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However, the school district asked Waymo to halt operations during student arrival and dismissal times, saying, “Waymo’s software updates are clearly not working as intended nor as quickly as required,” in a Nov. 20 letter.
NHTSA investigators are now seeking clarification on whether Waymo has paused operations during those hours, whether its fix is sufficient, and whether a formal vehicle recall is being considered.