The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report outlining details of its investigation into autonomous vehicles operated by Waymo that allegedly passed stopped school buses in Austin.
The investigation focuses on incidents involving vehicles equipped with Waymo’s automated driving system (ADS) that continued driving while students from the Austin Independent School District were boarding or exiting school buses. Authorities have reported multiple cases of such violations.
The NTSB report highlights a specific incident that occurred on 12 January on East Oltorf Street in Austin. According to investigators, a Waymo vehicle approached a stopped school bus that had its warning signals activated while students were disembarking.
Video evidence cited in the report shows that the vehicle initially stopped and then requested guidance from Waymo’s remote assistance system. The system displayed a prompt asking whether the vehicle was encountering a school bus with active signals.
“Once stopped, the ADS-equipped vehicle contacted remote assistance with a prompt asking, ‘is this a school bus with active signals?’” the report states. “After another passenger vehicle passed the school bus in the right eastbound through-lane, a remote assistance agent located in Novi, Michigan, replied ‘No’ to the prompt.”
Following the response, the autonomous vehicle resumed driving and passed the school bus even though its stop arms remained extended. According to the NTSB, six vehicles in total passed the bus while it was stopped.
The investigation was opened earlier this year after robotaxis were recorded passing stopped school buses in multiple incidents across at least two U.S. states. Regulators say more than 20 such incidents may have occurred in Austin alone.
The issue also prompted Waymo to carry out a voluntary software recall affecting roughly 3,000 vehicles to address the behaviour of the automated driving system around school buses.
The NTSB said investigators will continue collecting data in Austin. A final report with safety recommendations is expected within 12 to 24 months.
