The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration asked Waymo for more information about its self-driving system and its operations after the Austin School District reported that its robotaxis had illegally passed school buses 19 times this year.
In a letter sent to Waymo on Dec. 3, regulators asked for more information about its fifth-generation self-driving system and operations. The letter was first reported by Reuters. The letter comes two months after the agency launched an investigation into Waymo over how its robotaxis operate around stopped school buses.
The agency’s Office of Defect Investigations (ODI) launched an initial investigation into the Alphabet Inc. company in October after footage showed a Waymo self-driving car swerving around a stopped school bus with extended stop signs and flashing lights that was dropping off children in Atlanta. In this incident, a Waymo robotaxi crossed directly in front of the school bus from the right side. The self-driving car then turned left in front of the bus and drove down the street.
Waymo said the bus blocked part of the driveway and the robotaxi could not recognize flashing lights or stop signs.
Waymo also said it has issued software updates to its fleet to improve performance.
Reports of Waymo robotaxis illegally passing school buses continue even after the fix. The Austin School District has reported 19 instances in which Waymo self-driving vehicles illegally passed school buses since the beginning of the 2025-26 school year. In a letter to Waymo, the school district noted that at least five of these incidents occurred after Waymo announced it had updated its software on Nov. 17.
Waymo said in an emailed statement that safety is its top priority. The company also said its data shows its robotaxis improve road safety, noting five times fewer injury-related crashes and 12 times fewer injury-related crashes involving pedestrians compared to human drivers.
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“We have already made software updates to improve performance and are committed to continuous improvement,” the statement continued. “NHTSA plays an important role in road safety, and we will continue to work with them as part of our mission to be the world’s most trusted drivers.”
Waymo claims that software updates have significantly improved performance to a level that outperforms human drivers in this area.
The Austin School District doesn’t seem to agree, asking Waymo to suspend operations during certain times when students are commuting to and from school.
“Waymo’s software updates are clearly not working as intended or as fast as they should,” the district’s Nov. 20 letter to Waymo said. “We cannot allow Waymo to continue to put our students at risk while we work to implement a fix. Therefore, Austin ISD is requesting an immediate suspension of self-driving vehicle operations between the hours of 5:20 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. until more detailed software updates are completed and Waymo can ensure the vehicles are compliant with the law.”
Four days later, federal regulators from the Office of Deficiency Investigations sent Waymo a letter saying it had been warned by Austin school district officials. Investigators asked whether Waymo had ceased operations as requested by the school district, whether software fixes had alleviated the concerns, and whether Waymo planned to file a recall.
