Credit : TechCrunch's X
WASHINGTON, November 9, 2026 – US auto safety regulators have opened a fresh investigation into Waymo after its robotaxis kept passing stopped school buses even after the company rolled out a software fix, as reported by TechCrunch and Reuters.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said in a filing dated November 6 that the majority of the reported incidents happened after Waymo deployed the software update that was meant to solve the problem. The agency’s Office of Defects Investigation has opened what is known as a “recall query” to “assess the adequacy of the remedy” and to identify the causes of the incidents that occurred after the fix.
The query covers Waymo’s fifth-generation automated driving system and, according to Reuters, nearly 3,000 company-owned self-driving vehicles. NHTSA stresses that a recall query is an investigation, not a finding of a defect, and it can be closed without a further recall.
The background dates back to October 2025, when NHTSA opened an initial investigation after seeing footage of a Waymo vehicle manoeuvring around a stopped school bus in Atlanta. The bus had its stop sign extended and its red lights flashing while it was unloading children. In that incident the robotaxi crossed in front of the bus from its right side before turning left around the front of it.
Further incidents were documented in Austin, Texas, where Waymo also runs a robotaxi service. Austin Independent School District officials reported multiple cases in a letter filed with NHTSA. Passing a stopped school bus with its red lights flashing or stop arm extended is illegal in all 50 US states.
Waymo said last year that the software update had been completed for all affected vehicles on November 17, 2025. It then filed a formal recall, number 25E084, with NHTSA on December 10, 2025. NHTSA’s latest filing says that, of the incidents it identified during its earlier preliminary evaluation, a majority occurred after the November 17 remedy date. The agency closed that earlier evaluation in favour of the new recall query.
Waymo has defended its record. A company spokesperson told TechCrunch: “We have made significant improvements to vehicle behavior around school buses and have received no citations since March 2026.” The spokesperson added that the company will respond to NHTSA’s query once it is received and looks forward to continuing its engagement on recall processes for autonomous-vehicle software that “continues to learn and improve.”
The case is an early test of how regulators judge software-based recalls for self-driving cars, where a fix is delivered over the air rather than in a workshop and the real question is whether it works on the road. NHTSA’s review will examine whether Waymo’s remedy was adequate and why the behaviour continued afterwards.
Reuters reported that the Austin school district had documented numerous violations and issued tickets to Waymo, while public schools in Atlanta recorded further cases. TechCrunch said it had also asked Austin Independent School District officials for comment. At the time of writing, there was no finding from NHTSA, and the investigation remains open. LNA will update this story if the regulator or Waymo issues further statements.
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