Waymo under investigation for school bus incident

Federal investigators are looking into a recent incident involving an autonomous driving Waymo that passed a fully stopped school bus, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The federal agency said that the Waymo initially yielded to the school bus, which had its stop arm and crossing control arms deployed, in addition to flashing red lights.

After the Waymo paused, it proceeded to drive around the front of the bus and ultimately made a left turn in order to navigate around the larger stopped vehicle. Investigators said the Waymo drove near disembarking students.

The stopped school bus had partially blocked a driveway the Waymo was exiting, according to the company. As a result, the flashing lights and stop sign were not visible to the vehicle. The Waymo then drove around the bus's front end, making a left turn at a low speed, at a distance from the students exiting the bus.

Waymo said that it has already implemented software updates to improve its performance and has more updates planned.

The incident occurred in late September, in Atlanta, Georgia. NHTSA said that the likelihood of similar incidents is high, based on its "engagement" with Waymo about this incident.

The agency's investigation will focus on how Waymo's automated driving system performs around stopped school buses, with the goal of understanding whether safety issues are pervasive.

"Safety is our top priority, as we provide hundreds of thousands of fully autonomous paid trips every week in some of the most challenging driving environments in the U.S.," a Waymo spokesperson told Mashable. The spokesperson said that Waymo will continue to work with NHTSA.

Waymo's safety data indicate that its autonomous vehicles have achieved a fivefold reduction in crashes with injuries compared to human drivers.

In May 2024, NHTSA opened an investigation into Waymo for 22 reported incidents in which its autonomous vehicles collided with objects like gates, chains, and parked vehicles. The cars also appeared to disobey traffic safety control devices.

In November 2024, Waymo voluntarily recalled 1,212 of its self-driving taxis. The recalled cars, which comprised the entirety of the company's fleet at the time, received a software update in November designed to significantly decrease the likelihood that Waymos would collide with stationary objects.

Waymo, which currently offers autonomous vehicle services in Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Austin, recently announced that it would expand its taxi service to London.