Waymo updating software after self-driving cars passed stopped school buses : NPR
A Jaguar Waymo autonomous electric vehicle is seen in Tempe, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix, on September 15. The company is recalling software for its robo-taxis after reports that some of them failed to stop for school buses.
Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
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Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
Self-driving ride-hailing service Waymo plans to voluntarily file a software recall after multiple reports that its self-driving taxis were illegally overtaking stopped school buses.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation in October in response to “a media report involving a Waymo AV.” [autonomous vehicle] who failed to remain stopped while approaching a school bus that was stopped with its red lights flashing, its stop arm extended and its crossing control arm deployed.
WXIA-TV in Atlanta aired video in September showing a Waymo vehicle driving around a school bus.
The NHTSA website also includes a letter from the Austin Independent School District, saying the district has documented 19 instances of Waymo vehicles “illegally and dangerously” passing district school buses. The letter, signed by the district’s lead attorney, says that in one case the Waymo vehicle passed the stopped bus “only moments after a student crossed in front of the vehicle, and while the student was still in the road.”
In an emailed statement to NPR, Mauricio Peña, Waymo’s chief security officer, said that while the company is proud of its security record, “upholding the highest security standards means recognizing when our behavior should be better.” Peña wrote that Waymo plans to “file a voluntary software recall with NHTSA” and that it will “continue to analyze the performance of our vehicles and make any necessary fixes.”
The company says it has identified a software issue that contributed to the incidents and believes subsequent updates will resolve the issue. Waymo says it plans to file the voluntary recall early next week and emphasizes that no injuries have occurred because of this issue.
Waymo is a subsidiary of Alphabet, the parent company of Google. He has focused on safety in his public statements, showing that driverless Waymo cars have far fewer accidents than those with human drivers. In the cities where the company operates, there were 91% fewer accidents with seriously injured people and 92% fewer accidents with injured pedestrians.
Independent analyzes from technology news site Ars Technica and the Understanding AI newsletter support Waymo’s claim that its AVs are safer than human drivers. Still, federal regulators are requiring the company to provide much more information about these incidents.
According to NHTSA, Waymo AVs surpassed 100 million miles traveled last July and continue to rack up 2 million miles per week. Given this and discussions with Waymo, the agency says “the likelihood of other prior similar incidents is high.”
Earlier this week, NHTSA investigators sent Waymo a list of detailed questions about the incidents as part of their investigation. The agency asked Waymo to document similar incidents and provide more information about how it responded. NHTSA has set a deadline of January 20, 2026 for Waymo to respond.
Editor’s note: Google financially supports NPR.
