The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Nov. 6 opened a recall query into whether a 2025 Waymo software update stopped its robotaxis from passing stopped school buses, Engadget reported. The inquiry covers 2,895 vehicles, San José Spotlight reported, and follows a voluntary software recall completed in November 2025.
Why it matters: NHTSA said a majority of the incidents it reviewed happened after the remedy date, which the agency said calls the fix into question. Waymo operates a large driverless fleet in the Bay Area, including a South Bay expansion that began Nov. 3.
An earlier NHTSA investigation documented vehicles driving past stopped school buses with flashing red lights and stop-sign arms deployed in Atlanta and Austin, Engadget reported. Waymo’s 2025 recall was meant to address that software issue. A Waymo spokesperson told Engadget, “Safety is central to Waymo’s mission, and operating safely around school buses is a responsibility we take seriously,” and said the company had received no citations since March 2026. The company said it would respond to the query.
Engadget reported that NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation also opened a probe into a January incident in which a Waymo robotaxi hit a child in Santa Monica. Spotlight said the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a January crash in a Santa Monica school zone in which a Waymo struck a 9-year-old who sustained minor injuries; Engadget described the NTSB’s earlier work as a broader look at Waymo behavior around stopped school buses. Related: Waymo’s Nov. 3 South Bay expansion.