Federal safety regulators are probing Waymo after police in Austin, Texas said school‑bus cameras recorded the company’s vehicles failing to stop at least 20 times since August. Local video released by authorities appears to show Waymo cars passing stopped school buses while the buses displayed flashing red lights and extended stop signs as children crossed the street.
The most recent incident occurred after Waymo said it had rolled out a software update intended to correct the behavior. Footage of that event shows a Waymo vehicle not coming to a full stop until it had passed the front of the bus. In a statement, Waymo said it is “working to understand what occurred and improve.” The company added there were no injuries, that its vehicles will remain operating, and that it will file a voluntary safety recall while staff continue to analyze vehicle performance and implement fixes.
Waymo’s chief safety officer said the company is proud of its safety record but must acknowledge and correct behavior when it falls short. Company officials told investigators that vehicle programming “did not recognize what a vehicle is supposed to do around a stopped school bus with students loading and unloading.”
Federal regulators had opened an earlier probe in October after video surfaced of a similar school‑bus incident in Atlanta. CBS News notes Waymo engineers have described goals of making fewer mistakes than human drivers as the company develops services such as freeway driving.
Kris Van Cleave, CBS News.