The Alphabet-owned Waymo has rapidly expanded its operations over the past couple of years, putting driverless cars on the streets of multiple major cities across the United States. Outfitted with an array of sensors, the cars can be summoned by app. Waymo boasted 10 million trips in May 2025, with over 250,000 trips each week. But now, the company is being forced to pump its brakes as it faces increased government scrutiny after a number of vehicles were caught making illegal maneuvers on the road, many of which involved school buses. A federal investigation comes on the heels of suggestions that Waymo's self-driving taxis are going off the rails.
To protect the safety of small children, it is illegal in all 50 U.S. states to pass a stopped school bus with its stop sign out. Nevertheless, that's exactly what Waymo cabs have been spotted doing in dozens of instances. On December 5, the Austin Independent School District in Austin, Texas issued its 20th citation to Waymo for school bus-related traffic violations, requesting that the company cease operations in the morning and afternoon while school buses are on the road. Waymo refused to comply. On December 6, the company announced a planned software recall for vehicles in a stated effort to address the issue. According to reporting from CBS Austin, the recall came two weeks after Waymo claimed it had pushed a software update to remedy the illegal behavior.
The situation has drawn the scrutiny of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the nation's top agency for enforcing vehicle safety standards. On December 3, federal regulators notified Waymo of an investigation into "the performance of the Waymo ADS [automated driving system] around stopped school buses." Here's what we know so far about the agency's regulatory efforts and Waymo's response.