NHTSA Investigating Waymo After Self-Driving Cars Pass Stopped School Buses in Atlanta and Austin

ATLANTA, Ga. — Waymo’s self-driving cars are under federal scrutiny after multiple reports of the vehicles illegally passing stopped school buses in both Atlanta and Austin. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into how the company’s autonomous driving system responds to school bus stop-arm laws designed to protect children.

Atlanta Public Schools (APS) confirmed to Atlanta News First that it has documented six stop-arm violations involving Waymo vehicles between May and December. One of those cases — captured on camera — is now part of NHTSA’s formal review.

According to federal investigation documents, the most serious incident occurred on Sept. 22, when a Waymo vehicle approached a stopped school bus with its red lights flashing and stop arm extended. The autonomous car initially slowed and appeared to stop, but then maneuvered around the bus, passing it on the right. No safety operator was inside the vehicle at the time.

Similar stop-arm violations have been recorded in Austin, Texas, where school district cameras captured multiple instances of Waymo vehicles driving past buses that were actively loading or unloading students.

NHTSA investigators are now examining whether Waymo’s autonomous driving system is properly designed to detect stopped school buses and comply with state laws requiring all vehicles to stop until children are safely clear.

Who Gets the Ticket?
One major complication in cases like this is that current traffic laws assume a human driver is behind the wheel. Police in both Atlanta and Austin have noted that they cannot issue a traditional traffic ticket to an autonomous vehicle with no human operator. Instead, violations are documented, and enforcement may come through federal regulators rather than local police.

The NHTSA investigation will determine whether Waymo’s software is designed to comply with stop-arm laws and whether the company must take corrective action. This could include a software recall, operational restrictions, or other company-level enforcement, rather than individual traffic citations.

In a statement, Waymo Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Peña acknowledged the concerns and said the company has been working to correct the issue. Waymo plans to file a software recall next week as part of its response.

“While we are incredibly proud of our strong safety record showing Waymo experiences twelve times fewer injury crashes involving pedestrians than human drivers, holding the highest safety standards means recognizing when our behavior should be better,” Peña said.

Federal officials have requested detailed documentation from Waymo about each incident, the performance of its detection systems, and how the forthcoming software update is expected to prevent future violations.

The investigation comes as autonomous vehicles expand across several major U.S. cities — and as regulators continue to assess how these systems behave in sensitive and high-risk environments, including school zones.