Regulators probe Waymo after its robotaxi drove around a stopped school bus

A Waymo Robotaxi was recently the stain A school bus has its red light flashing around and federal safety regulators have launched an investigation.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announcement Monday morning that its Office of Defect Investigation (ODI) opened an investigation after seeing footage of a Waymo autonomous vehicle maneuvering around a stopped school bus unloading children in Atlanta, Georgia.

said in ODI document That it will investigate the effectiveness of Waymo’s self-driving software around stopped school buses, how the system is designed to comply with bus regulations and more. NHTSA said Monday that, based on its involvement with Waymo so far, “the likelihood of other prior similar incidents is high.”

The Waymo robotaxy in question crossed perpendicularly in front of the school bus from the right. The autonomous vehicle swerved left around the front of the bus before heading down the road. According to Waymo, the robotaxy partially blocked the bus as it was leaving the driveway. The company claims that the robotaxis did not see flashing lights or stop signs. Waymo did not immediately respond to a question about whether the car would allow students to get off the bus or see the bus’s control arm.

“Safety is our top priority, as we provide hundreds of thousands of fully autonomous paid trips each week in the most challenging driving environments in the United States,” the company said in a statement, citing data that shows its vehicles enter Human-driven ones crash less. “NHTSA plays an important role in road safety, and we will continue to work collaboratively with the agency on its mission to be the world’s most trusted driver.”

Waymo also said Monday that it has already issued software updates to its fleet to improve performance.

It’s been a year of expansion for Waymo. The company launched in Atlanta, brought its robotaxis to Austin, expanded across Silicon Valley and is testing in other metro areas, including New York City. It’s also testing San Jose and San Francisco airports, with more cities slated for 2026.

Part of the process of launching in new cities is experiencing self-driving systems and learning from new situations — though it’s safe to say Atlanta isn’t the first place to see Waymo’s robotoxy school bus.

This isn’t the first time NHTSA has opened an investigation into Waymo’s self-driving cars In 2023, NHTSA investigated reports that Waymo’s vehicles were struggling with road obstacles such as gates and chains in low-speed situations. That’s the end of the investigation Lead to a withdrawal in 2024Which Waymo has addressed with a software update Last year, the agency announced the focus of an investigation Reports say Waymo vehicles were driving in the wrong lane or entering construction zones.