"In December, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into Waymo after Austin's largest school district reported at least 19 incidents where the company's robotaxis failed to fully stop for school buses during loading and unloading - an illegal violation in all 50 states. Waymo quickly responded by issuing a voluntary software recall and rolling out updates intended to fix the problem."
"But the patch didn't work. Since the update, Austin Independent School District (ISD) says at least four additional violations have occurred, including one as recently as January 19th, when a Waymo vehicle was filmed breezing through the opposite lane of traffic as children waited to cross the street and board a bus with its stop arm extended. In total, at least 24 safety violations involving Waymo vehicles and school buses have been reported in Austin since the start of the 2025 school year."
"Last week, Waymo published a blog post acknowledging that one of its vehicles struck a child outside a Santa Monica elementary school on January 23rd. Although the school district told The Washington Post that the child sustained only minor injuries, the outcome could have been far worse: Waymo says the vehicle slowed from 17 mph to 6 mph in the instant before impact."
Waymo has faced repeated failures in school zones as it prepares major rollouts. NHTSA opened an investigation after Austin reported at least 19 robotaxi incidents failing to fully stop for school buses. Waymo issued a voluntary software recall and deployed updates, but Austin ISD reported at least four additional violations after the patch, totaling at least 24 since the 2025 school year began. A Waymo vehicle struck a child in Santa Monica on January 23rd; the vehicle slowed from 17 mph to 6 mph before impact and the child sustained only minor injuries. Experts expressed concern about pedestrian safety and company safety practices.
Read at The Verge
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