Waymo's School Bus Fix Didn't Hold, Feds Say
Original: Waymo Said It Fixed Its School Bus Problem. The US Government Says It Didn’t Work
Why This Matters
Signals that AV software recalls face the same accountability standards as hardware recalls.
NHTSA has opened a formal investigation into Waymo after finding that school bus passing incidents continued after the company issued a software recall in December 2024, with most violations occurring post-fix.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating whether Waymo's software recall actually resolved a pattern of its robotaxis illegally passing stopped school buses with red lights activated and stop arms extended — a violation in all 50 states. Waymo issued a software fix in mid-November 2024 and a voluntary recall a month later, but according to NHTSA filings, the majority of school bus incidents occurred after that date. A separate National Transportation Safety Board report found another passing incident in mid-January 2025, weeks after the recall. The NTSB is running its own parallel investigation. Waymo spokesperson Dana Gallagher said the company has "made significant improvements" and has not been cited for passing school buses since last March. She added that Waymo looks "forward to continuing our engagement on recall processes for AV software that continues to learn and improve." In a notable detail reported by WIRED, the Austin school district helped Waymo stage a half-day data collection event after the recall — bringing real buses to an empty parking lot to help train its vehicles. The incidents continued anyway. Prior NHTSA recall inquiries of this type have resulted in civil penalties reaching tens of millions of dollars for automakers.