Waymo Robotaxis Kept Passing Stopped School Buses After the Software Fix, Federal Regulators Say — and Austin ISD Documented 19 Violations
NHTSA has opened a recall query covering nearly 3,000 Waymo vehicles after finding most reported school-bus passes happened after the company said its fix was complete. Austin ISD's 19 documented violations and $300 tickets are part of the federal record. Waymo says behavior has improved and it has had no citations since March.
AUSTIN — Federal safety regulators have opened a new investigation into why Waymo's robotaxis kept illegally passing stopped school buses after the company said it had fixed the problem. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a November 6 filing that a majority of the reported incidents occurred after Waymo deployed the software update intended to correct the behavior — an update the company said was completed for all affected vehicles on November 17, 2025.
The agency's Office of Defects Investigation has opened what is called a recall query, covering nearly 3,000 company-owned self-driving vehicles. A recall query is not a new recall and not a final finding of defect: it is the regulator's formal step to assess whether the remedy from the earlier recall was adequate, and to determine the causes of the incidents that happened after it.
Austin is one of the two cities at the center of the record. The investigation began in October 2025 after footage showed a Waymo vehicle maneuvering around a stopped school bus in Atlanta, crossing in front of it while its stop sign was extended, its lights were flashing and children were unloading. In Austin, where Waymo also operates a robotaxi service, Austin Independent School District officials documented 19 distinct violations and issued numerous $300 tickets to the company, according to Reuters' account of the filing; district officials had reported at least five incidents in the district's own letter to NHTSA. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the school-bus incidents.
Waymo's response, given to TechCrunch, stresses improvement since the update. 'We have made significant improvements to vehicle behavior around school buses and have received no citations since March 2026,' a spokesperson said, adding that the company will respond to NHTSA's query once it is received. Austin ISD had not responded to a request for comment when the TechCrunch report was published, and this story claims no district position beyond the violations documented in the federal record.
