NHTSA investigates Waymo after vehicles pass stopped school buses in Austin

A US safety agency opened an investigation into Waymo after it did so Autonomous vehicles They were allegedly caught driving near parked school buses in Austin, Texas, according to a letter the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sent to the company on December 3.

In a statement to FOX Business, Austin Independent School District (AISD) police said Waymo’s self-driving vehicles had been cited 20 times as of Monday, and that the company had refused to cease operations until the issue was properly resolved.

Footage provided by AISD shows at least 19 incidents since the start of the school year in which Waymo vehicles drove past parked school buses with red lights flashing and stop arms deployed, while pedestrians were clearly walking on nearby streets and crosswalks. The videos show that in some cases, Waymo vehicles initially slowed or stopped in front of school buses before moving forward.

In its letter to the company, NHTSA said it has opened an evaluation of “the performance of Waymo ADS around stopped school buses and the system’s ability to follow traffic safety laws related to school buses.”

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Security footage shows a white Waymo self-driving car passing a parked school bus with stop signs extended and lights flashing in Austin, Texas. (Austin Independent School District/Fox News)

The agency added, “Such unexpected driving behaviors or failure to comply with traffic safety laws regarding school buses may increase the risk of collision, injury, and property damage.”

AISD Chief of Police Waymo refused to cease operations until the company could ensure its vehicles would not violate the law, Wayne Snead said in a statement to FOX Business.

“Despite numerous requests, Waymo has refused to cease operations,” Snead said.

“In addition, we provided them with another video dated December 1, 2025, showing one of their vehicles passing another bus while loading students. In this case, the bus was stopped with red flashing lights and activated for approximately a full minute before their vehicle passed — an unambiguous violation of state law.”

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A self-driving Waymo car passes in front of a parked school bus in Austin, Texas. (Austin Independent School District/Fox News)

Snead added that Waymo was notified of the issue in mid-November, and while the company said it has since resolved the issue, the alleged violations continue.

“They reported implementing programming changes in mid-November to correct previous violations. However, the December 1, 2025 incident indicates that these programming changes did not resolve the issue or our concerns,” Snead said.

Reuters previously reported that in a November 20 letter published by NHTSA, AISD Waymo said five incidents occurred that month after Waymo said it made software updates to address the issue.

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A self-propelled Waymo SUV was seen driving through a school bus stop zone while the bus was parked with stop arms and red lights flashing in Austin, Texas. (Austin Independent School District/Fox News)

Waymo confirmed to FOX Business on Thursday that when the company learned of the issue, it moved quickly to address it and implemented the updates by November 17.

The company said the updates “significantly improved performance” to a level even better than human drivers. Waymo also claimed that its records show that Waymo moved cautiously when no one was there.

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A Waymo spokesperson said: “Improving road safety is our top priority at Waymo and we invest heavily in safe interactions with school buses. We have quickly implemented software updates to address this and will continue to improve rapidly.”

The investigation comes as Waymo plans to expand its self-driving service To Dallas In 2026, according to Fox 4 DallasShe added that the company is currently testing its vehicles on the road in the city.