Alphabet’s Waymo said it will file a voluntary software recall with U.S. safety regulators related to how its autonomous vehicles operate around stopped school buses, following scrutiny from federal officials and complaints from local school districts.
The company said the recall will be submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) early next week. Waymo added that it had already deployed a software update on Nov. 17 after identifying the issue, and said the fix has significantly improved vehicle performance in school bus interaction scenarios.
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The action comes after NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened a probe in October following video footage showing a Waymo robotaxi maneuvering around a stopped school bus in Atlanta while the bus’s stop sign was extended and warning lights were flashing. The autonomous vehicle was seen crossing in front of the bus before turning and continuing down the street.
Additional incidents were later reported in Austin, Texas, where Waymo operates a robotaxi service in partnership with Uber. Officials from the Austin Independent School District said in a letter made public on NHTSA’s website that at least five similar incidents occurred after Waymo said it had updated its software. On Dec. 3, NHTSA formally asked Waymo for detailed information about its fifth-generation self-driving system after the district reported that robotaxis had illegally passed school buses 19 times this year.
“While we are incredibly proud of our strong safety record showing Waymo experiences twelve times fewer injury crashes involving pedestrians than human drivers, holding the highest safety standards means recognizing when our behavior should be better,” Waymo Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Peña said in an emailed statement. “As a result, we have made the decision to file a voluntary software recall with NHTSA related to appropriately slowing and stopping in these scenarios.”
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Waymo said no injuries have been linked to the incidents covered by the recall and added that it will continue to work with regulators while monitoring vehicle performance for further improvements.
Software recalls have become increasingly common across the automotive industry, particularly as vehicles rely more heavily on automated driving systems. Waymo has issued multiple voluntary software recalls in recent years, including one earlier this year and two in 2024, one of which followed a low-speed collision with a telephone pole in Phoenix involving a vehicle operating without a human safety driver.