Waymo faces a federal investigation for evasive driving around school buses

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into Waymo after reports that the company’s robotaxis were illegally driving in front of parked school buses in Austin, Texas.

In a letter The federal regulator’s Office of Defects Investigation sent Waymo on Wednesday a request for detailed information about Waymo’s fifth-generation self-driving system and expressed concern that the Alphabet-owned company’s vehicles were exhibiting unexpected or illegal behavior around school buses.

The letter comes after the watchdog opened an investigation in October into the company following an accident involving a stationary school bus in Georgia. Video footage showed one of Waymo’s self-driving vehicles driving alongside a parked school bus with its red lights flashing and stop arms deployed. In response, Waymo He said Safety is its top priority and it has already issued software updates to its fleet to resolve the issue.

However, the problem seems to persist. In a letter On November 20, the Austin Independent School District said it had evidence of 19 separate incidents in which Waymo vehicles were recorded driving near parked school buses since the start of the school year. At least five of these instances occurred after the company said it released an update to fix the problem.

The school district has asked Waymo to discontinue self-driving operations at school pickup and drop-off times. Area He said Reuters The company refused to cease operations around schools and claimed that another incident involving an actively loading school bus occurred on December 1. Email On November 24, NHTSA explicitly asked Waymo to “notify us if you have stopped operating during these times as required or plan to stop,” and to confirm whether a software fix has been implemented.

This isn’t the first time Waymo has come under regulatory scrutiny for its self-driving cars. For example, in 2024, the federal regulator I launched an investigation Following reports of erratic driving potentially violating the law. This comes as the company expands into new markets Hopes It will be launched in more than 20 cities in the coming years.

A Waymo spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on the investigation.