The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into Waymo after the company’s robotaxis were recorded illegally passing stopped school buses in multiple incidents across at least two states.
The safety board said on Friday it is focusing on more than 20 incidents in Austin, Texas, where automated vehicles failed to stop while students were boarding or exiting school buses. Investigators will travel to Austin to collect information, with a preliminary report expected within 30 days and a final report to follow in 12 to 24 months.
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This marks the first investigation of Waymo by the NTSB, though it is the second federal inquiry tied to the company’s interactions with school buses. In October, the Office of Defects Investigation at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a similar probe. Waymo also issued a software recall last year aimed at addressing the issue, though further incidents have since been reported.
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In Austin, where many of the violations were captured on camera, the local school district has asked Waymo to suspend operations during school pickup and drop-off hours. Footage published by local media showed Waymo vehicles passing stopped buses with flashing lights, actions that are illegal under U.S. traffic laws.
The investigation comes as Waymo continues to expand its commercial robotaxi service across the United States. This week, the company launched operations in Miami, adding to existing services in cities including Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix and the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Waymo said it is cooperating with authorities and maintains that safety performance remains strong. “We safely navigate thousands of school bus encounters weekly across the United States, and the Waymo Driver is continuously improving,” said Mauricio Peña, adding that there had been no collisions in the incidents under review.
Unlike the NHTSA, the NTSB is not a regulatory body and does not have the authority to issue fines or penalties. Instead, it conducts in-depth investigations and issues non-binding safety recommendations aimed at preventing future incidents.
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The earliest widely reported violation occurred last September in Atlanta, when a Waymo vehicle crossed in front of a stopped school bus as children were disembarking. Waymo said at the time that the vehicle was unable to detect the bus’s stop sign and flashing lights and that it addressed the scenario through a software update. Subsequent incidents in Austin suggest the issue has not been fully resolved.
