Waymo Robotaxis Probed for Passing Stopped School Buses
▼ Summary
– The NHTSA has opened an investigation into Waymo’s self-driving vehicles following reports of them illegally passing stopped school buses in Austin, Texas.
– The investigation follows a prior October probe into a similar incident in Georgia, after which Waymo claimed to have issued a software update to fix the issue.
– Despite the claimed fix, the Austin school district reported 19 separate incidents, with at least five occurring after the software update was issued.
– The school district requested Waymo halt operations during school pick-up and drop-off times, but the company reportedly refused and another incident occurred in December.
– This regulatory scrutiny occurs as Waymo, which has faced previous probes for erratic driving, is expanding its operations with plans to launch in over 20 cities.
Federal safety regulators have initiated a formal investigation into Waymo’s autonomous vehicle fleet following multiple reports of its robotaxis illegally passing stopped school buses in Austin, Texas. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has requested comprehensive data from the company regarding its self-driving technology, citing serious concerns over vehicles displaying unlawful conduct in school zones. This probe underscores the critical challenges facing autonomous vehicle deployment as it scales into complex urban environments.
The agency’s Office of Defects Investigation sent a detailed letter to Waymo this week, demanding information on the company’s fifth-generation driving system. Officials expressed specific apprehension that these Alphabet-owned vehicles were demonstrating unexpected and illegal maneuvers around school buses, a scenario demanding the highest caution. This regulatory action follows an earlier investigation opened in October after an incident in Georgia, where video evidence captured a Waymo vehicle driving past a stationary school bus with its red lights activated and stop arm extended.
In response to the Georgia event, Waymo stated that safety was its paramount concern and announced it had deployed a software update to its entire fleet to address the identified problem. Despite this corrective measure, the issue seems to have continued. The Austin Independent School District documented a troubling pattern in a November letter, reporting evidence of 19 separate incidents since the school year began where Waymo vehicles were recorded illegally passing stopped buses. Notably, at least five of these violations occurred after the company claimed its software fix was in place.
Confronted with this ongoing problem, the school district formally requested that Waymo suspend its autonomous operations during student pick-up and drop-off times. District officials informed Reuters that the company declined this request to halt services around schools. They further reported an additional incident involving a bus actively loading children on December first. The NHTSA’s subsequent correspondence explicitly asked Waymo to clarify whether it had complied with or planned to honor the school district’s operational pause and to confirm the status of its software remediation.
This scrutiny is not an isolated event for the self-driving car pioneer. Earlier this year, the federal regulator launched a separate probe into reports of Waymo vehicles exhibiting erratic driving that may have violated traffic laws. These investigations arrive at a pivotal moment for the company, which is actively pursuing an ambitious expansion strategy with the goal of launching services in more than twenty cities in the near future. A spokesperson for Waymo was not immediately available to provide comment on the newly announced probe.
(Source: The Verge)
