Waymo faces federal probe for dodgy driving around school buses

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an probe into Waymo pursuing reports that the company’s robotaxis illegally drove past stopped schoolhouse buses successful Austin, Texas. 

In a letter sent to Waymo connected Wednesday, the national regulator’s Office of Defects Investigation asked for elaborate accusation connected Waymo’s fifth-generation self-driving strategy and expressed interest that the Alphabet-owned company’s vehicles were showing unexpected oregon amerciable behaviour astir schoolhouse buses. 

The missive comes aft the watchdog opened an October probe into the steadfast pursuing an incidental involving a stationary schoolhouse autobus successful Georgia. Video footage showed 1 of Waymo’s autonomous vehicles driving past a stopped schoolhouse autobus with its reddish lights flashing and halt arms deployed. In response, Waymo said information is its apical precedence and that it had already issued bundle updates to its fleet to resoluteness the issue. 

However, the occupation appears to person persisted. In a letter dated November 20, the Austin Independent School District said it had grounds of 19 abstracted incidents successful which Waymo vehicles had been recorded driving past stopped schoolhouse buses since the commencement of the schoolhouse year. At slightest 5 of these happened aft the institution said it issued an update to hole the problem. 

The schoolhouse territory asked Waymo to cease self-driving operations astir schoolhouse pick-up and drop-off times. The territory told Reuters the institution had refused to halt operations astir schools and claimed different incidental involving an actively loading schoolhouse autobus occurred connected December 1. In an email dated November 24, the NHTSA explicitly asked Waymo to “let america cognize if you person ceased operations during these times arsenic requested oregon program to cease,” and to corroborate whether a bundle hole had been implemented.

It’s not the archetypal clip Waymo has travel nether regulatory scrutiny for its self-driving cars. For example, successful 2024, the national regulator launched a probe pursuing reports of erratic driving that perchance broke the law. It comes arsenic the institution expands into caller markets, with hopes to motorboat successful implicit 20 cities successful the coming years. 

A Waymo spokesperson was not instantly disposable to remark connected the probe.