Waymo Robotaxi Repeatedly Fails to Stop for School Buses; Regulatory Investigation
Waymo's Robotaxi autonomous vehicles repeatedly failed to stop or slow when passing school buses with red warning lights and stop arms in Texas, occurring at least 19 times this school year. Despite announcing a software fix, five more incidents occurred in November; NHTSA opened an investigation and demanded a response by January 2026 while the school district requested operational suspension around schools.
What happened
Waymo's Robotaxi autonomous vehicles failed to stop or slow down when passing school buses displaying red warning lights and stop arms in Texas, as required by law. According to Texas officials, Waymo vehicles illegally passed school buses at least 19 times since the start of the school year.
In November 2025, after Waymo announced a software update to address the issue, the Austin Independent School District reported five additional non-stopping incidents during November. The district requested that Waymo suspend operations around schools during school hours until the issue was resolved.
Reported impact
The failures posed safety risks to children boarding and exiting school buses. U.S. traffic law mandates that all vehicles must immediately stop and not pass when school buses display red warning lights and stop arms.
Index analysis
Waymo submitted a voluntary software recall notice to NHTSA and stated that software updates had significantly improved the vehicle's performance in slowing down and stopping for school buses. However, the continuing incidents in November following the announced update indicated the problem persisted.
Governance controls
NHTSA opened an investigation in October 2025 into Waymo vehicles near school areas. On December 3, NHTSA required Waymo to respond to inquiries by January 20, 2026. Waymo declined the school district's request to suspend operations around schools, asserting that its software updates made the vehicles perform better than human drivers.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.