Updated on: December 8, 2025 / 8:03 PM EST / CBS News
Federal regulators are expanding an investigation into Waymo after reports that the company’s self-driving cars navigated around stopped school buses in Austin, Texas. In a Dec. 3 letter to Waymo, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it will examine the vehicles’ performance and their ability to follow traffic safety laws. Reuters first reported the probe.
The Austin Independent School District told CBS News it is aware of 20 incidents this school year in which a Waymo vehicle illegally passed a stopped school bus. All 50 states require drivers to stop for school buses with flashing red lights and a deployed stop-arm, according to NHTSA guidance.
Waymo said it identified a software issue that contributed to the incidents and implemented updates by Nov. 17 that improved vehicle behavior. Mauricio Peña, Waymo’s chief safety officer, told CBS News the company plans to issue a voluntary software recall with NHTSA next week. “We will continue analyzing our vehicles’ performance and making necessary fixes as part of our commitment to continuous improvement,” Peña said.
Austin officials remain concerned. JJ Maldonado, communications specialist for the Austin Independent School District, said Waymo received its 20th citation as of Dec. 1, despite the company saying it had fixed the issue with the Nov. 17 software updates. In a Nov. 20 letter to Waymo, the district asked the company to halt operations within the district during times when students are loading and unloading from buses until updates are completed and compliance can be guaranteed; Maldonado said Waymo refused to cease operations during those hours.
Waymo pointed to its broader safety record in response to the NHTSA probe, saying its data show a fivefold reduction in injury-related crashes compared with human drivers and twelve times fewer injury crashes involving pedestrians. The company did not comment on whether it would comply with the Austin school district’s request to suspend service during bus loading and unloading.
NHTSA opened an earlier probe in October after an incident in Atlanta in which a Waymo vehicle drove around a stopped school bus with flashing red lights and a deployed stop arm. The agency said the vehicle passed the bus’ stop arm and a safety device that swings out near where students were disembarking; no safety operator was present in the self-driving vehicle at the time. Atlanta Public Schools has reported six such cases.
Waymo, owned by Alphabet, launched fully autonomous public service in October 2020 in Phoenix and now offers driverless rides in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Phoenix and Atlanta, with recent expansion plans that include Philadelphia. Edited by Aimee Picchi. Kathryn Krupnik contributed to this report.