NHTSA probes 2,895 Waymo robotaxis over school-bus passes

By Nathan Brooks

NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened recall query RQ26006 on Nov. 6, covering 2,895 Waymo robotaxis equipped with the company’s fifth-generation automated driving system. The query asks whether the software remedy delivered in November 2025 actually stopped vehicles from passing school buses with flashing lights or extended stop arms.

What does the new recall query examine?

ODI must assess whether Waymo’s remedy was adequate and identify what caused the incidents that followed it. A recall query can lead NHTSA to demand a new or expanded recall if the agency finds the fix fell short.

Waymo filed recall 25E084 on Dec. 10, 2025, to address software that could let its vehicles pass a school bus with red lights flashing or the stop arm extended. The company told regulators that the over-the-air remedy had been completed on all affected vehicles on Nov. 17, 2025.

ODI said a majority of the school-bus incidents identified in its preliminary evaluation, PE25013, occurred after that completion date. A patch can close a ticket and still leave the original complaint open.

Opening the query means NHTSA did not treat the software update as the end of the matter. The agency now has to reconcile the original defect allegations with the post-remedy incidents.

What happened in Atlanta and Austin?

ODI opened PE25013 in October 2025 after footage showed a Waymo in Atlanta pulling around a stopped school bus with its stop arm out and lights flashing while children were getting off.

More reports followed from Austin, where the Austin Independent School District documented 19 violations. One case involved a driverless car stopping briefly and then moving on while a student was crossing. Atlanta’s public schools recorded six additional violations, according to Reuters.

NHTSA’s new query resume lists traffic citations supplied by Austin ISD as a source of the incident reports. The districts’ records now sit alongside video, regulatory files and the company’s own remedy claims.

What does Waymo say?

Waymo said it has made "significant improvements to vehicle behavior around school buses." The company also reported no citations since March 2026. It will respond once NHTSA sends its questions and continue working with the agency on recall processes for software that "continuously learns and improves."

Waymo can point to that citation record as evidence of progress. It does not settle whether the November remedy was adequate. That distinction remains at the center of the query.

What is at stake during the expansion?

The query arrives as Waymo plans to launch its own robotaxi app in Austin and Atlanta. The company is expanding in the same cities that generated the documented violations.

Federal scrutiny already includes a separate NHTSA probe opened in January after a Waymo struck a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica, California. The new query adds another open question to that record, rather than replacing it.

The next milestone is NHTSA’s conclusion on whether the Nov. 17 remedy ended the violations, or whether Waymo must widen the recall. The Austin and Atlanta rollout will proceed with that software question still open.