Despite holding a track record as some of the safest self-driving cars on American roads, Waymo’s robotaxis seem to be veering off course lately.
Earlier this week, Waymo filed a software recall for 3,067 of its 5th-generation vehicles, after the National Highways Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into the vehicles’ behavior around school busses. In its summary of the recall, the NHTSA said that the “software may cause the vehicle to pass a stopped school bus even when the red lights are flashing and/or stop arm is extended.”
The recall comes after 20 incidents with school buses were recorded in Austin, as well as at least six in Atlanta throughout 2025. While no one has been hurt yet, NHTSA records note at least one case where a Waymo zoomed past “disembarking students.” That’s an immensely serious threat to safety: driving past a school bus with active warning lights and stop arms extended is a major traffic violation in all 50 states, carrying steep penalties for human drivers.
Though Waymo claims it had patched all affected vehicles by November 17, CBS reports that the Austin Independent School District (AISD) logged at least one violation after that date.
In response to the early December violation, AISD officials reached out to Waymo, asking it to limit operations around school drop-off and pick-up times.
But Waymo told the school district it’s going to keep on trucking.
“They did not agree with our risk assessment and respectfully declined to stop operating,” Austin ISD Police Chief Wayne Sneed told CNN.
“It’s problematic when the company’s not listening because their product could really hurt people, especially school children and families,” said Jason Coomer, an attorney consulted by CNN.
Waymo didn’t respond to the network’s request for comment.
The dispute comes as Waymo has begun reprogramming its vehicles to drive more aggressively. Those updates are intended to avoid passive or defensive driving. Though the company has yet to cause the death of a human, it’s already run over numerous beloved pets, and has become involved in a growing number of bizarre incidents, like when a Waymo drove its passengers through an armed police standoff.
The contention with AISD does set up an intriguing test: given that Waymo has declared the school bus issue resolved, any additional violations will be a telling indication of the company’s ability to control its vehicles in response to controversy.
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