US investigates allegations of Waymo self-driving cars illegally passing school buses 19 times in Texas

On December 4, U.S. regulators announced that they have requested additional information from Waymo following reports that the self-driving cars operated by the Alphabet subsidiary illegally overtook school buses 19 times since the start of the school year in Texas.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) initiated an investigation in October after a separate incident in Georgia, where a Waymo vehicle failed to stop for a school bus displaying red lights and an extended stop arm.

According to a November 20 letter shared by NHTSA, the Austin Independent School District reported five violations in November, despite Waymo claiming to have updated its software to address the issue. The district asked Waymo to suspend operations near schools during student pick-up and drop-off times until the company could guarantee compliance with the law.

Waymo has not yet provided a comment on the investigation.

Author: Natalie Monroe