A Waymo Jaguar autonomous electric vehicle is seen in Tempe, Arizona, on the outskirts of Phoenix, on September 15. The company is recalling software for its robotaxis after reports that some were unable to stop for school buses.
Charlie Triballo/AFP via Getty Images
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Charlie Triballo/AFP via Getty Images
Autonomous taxi service Waymo plans to voluntarily recall its software after several reports of its self-driving taxis illegally passing stopped school buses.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened investigation in October in response to “media report about Waymo AV [autonomous vehicle] who failed to remain stopped while approaching a school bus that was stopped with its red lights flashing, the stop lever deployed and the crossing control lever deployed.”
WXIA-TV in Atlanta aired video in September, a Waymo car was shown driving around a school bus.
The NHTSA website also includes letter from the Austin Independent School District, saying the district had documented 19 incidents of Waymo vehicles “illegally and dangerously” passing district school buses. The letter, signed by the district's senior attorney, said that in one case, a Waymo vehicle passed a stopped bus “just moments after the student crossed in front of the vehicle and while the student was still in the road.”
In a statement emailed to NPR, Waymo Chief Security Officer Mauricio Peña said that while the company is proud of its safety record, “maintaining the highest safety standards means recognizing when we need to do better.” Peña wrote that Waymo plans to “submit a voluntary software recall to NHTSA” and will “continue to review the performance of our vehicles and make necessary fixes.”
The company says it has identified a software issue that contributed to the incidents and believes future updates will resolve the issue. Waymo says it plans to file a voluntary recall early next week and notes that no injuries have occurred due to the issue.
Waymo is a subsidiary of Alphabet, the parent company of Google. He has safety oriented in public statements showing that Waymo's self-driving cars are involved in far fewer accidents than human-powered cars. The cities where the company operates experienced 91% fewer serious injury crashes and 92% fewer pedestrian injury crashes, according to the company.
Independent analysis of a technology news site Ars Technique and newsletter Understanding AI Back Waymo's claim that its AVs are safer than human drivers. However, federal regulators are asking the company to provide much more information about these incidents.
Waymo vehicles logged 100 million miles last July and continue to rack up 2 million miles per week, according to NHTSA. Given this and discussions with Waymo, the agency says “the likelihood of other similar incidents in the past is high.”
Earlier this week, NHTSA investigators sent a list detailed questions about Waymo incidents as part of the investigation. The agency asked Waymo to document similar incidents and provide more information about how it responded. NHTSA has set the deadline for Waymo to respond as January 20, 2026.
Editor's note: Google is a financial supporter of NPR.
