NHTSA opens probe into Waymo fleet over passing stopped school bus

Federal safety regulators have opened a preliminary investigation into roughly 2,000 Waymo self‑driving vehicles after video of a robotaxi driving around a stopped school bus with flashing red lights in Atlanta on Sept. 22 emerged. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Oct. 17 that its Office of Defects Investigation will examine how Waymo’s automated driving system performs around stopped school buses, whether it is designed to comply with school bus traffic laws, and the system’s ability to follow those laws.

Video of the incident shows a Waymo vehicle approach a stationary bus from a perpendicular side street, pause briefly, then turn around the front of the bus and pass down its left side while students were disembarking. The agency’s filing says the bus had its flashing red lights, extended stop arm and a crossing control arm deployed. NHTSA noted the Waymo vehicle was operating without a human safety operator and was using the company’s fifth generation automated driving system.

Waymo has offered an account that the bus was partially blocking a driveway the robotaxi was leaving and that, from the vehicle’s angle of approach, the flashing lights and...