Waymo is facing escalating federal scrutiny as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requested detailed information about the company's self-driving technology after Austin schools reported 19 instances of robotaxis illegally passing school buses this year. The December 3 letter marks an expansion of NHTSA's October investigation, raising questions about AI safety protocols in critical scenarios involving children.
The heat is turning up on Waymo as federal safety regulators escalate their investigation into the company's robotaxis repeatedly breaking school bus laws. NHTSA's latest move - a December 3 information request obtained by Reuters - signals the agency isn't satisfied with Google's autonomous vehicle subsidiary's explanations or fixes.
The numbers tell a troubling story. Austin School District has documented 19 separate instances this school year where Waymo vehicles illegally passed school buses with stop signs extended and lights flashing. What's more concerning: five of these violations happened after Waymo claimed it fixed the problem with a November 17 software update.
"Waymo's software updates are clearly not working as intended nor as quickly as required," Austin ISD wrote in a scathing November 20 letter to the company. "We cannot allow Waymo to continue endangering our students while it attempts to implement a fix."
The school district isn't just complaining - they're demanding action. Austin ISD wants Waymo to completely shut down operations during critical hours: 5:20-9:30 AM and 3:00-7:00 PM, when kids are traveling to and from school. It's an unprecedented request that could cripple Waymo's Austin operations if enforced.
This latest crisis stems from NHTSA's October investigation, launched after viral footage showed a Waymo robotaxi maneuvering around a stopped school bus in Atlanta. In that incident, the autonomous vehicle crossed directly in front of the bus before turning around it - a maneuver that would be illegal for human drivers and potentially deadly if a child had been crossing.
Waymo initially blamed the Atlanta incident on the bus "partially blocking the driveway" and claimed the robotaxi couldn't see the flashing lights or stop sign. The company quickly pushed a software update, but Austin's continued reports suggest the fix was inadequate.
The company's defense relies heavily on comparative statistics. Waymo points to data showing a fivefold reduction in injury crashes compared to human drivers and twelve times fewer pedestrian injuries. "We have already made software updates to improve our performance and are committed to continuous improvement," the company told TechCrunch.
