– A federal safety investigation has been opened to see how self-driving Waymo vehicles perform around school buses.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration learned of a media report indicating that a Waymo automated vehicle (AV) violated safety laws regarding a school bus in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Waymo involved in the September 22 incident was equipped with a 5th generation automated driving system (ADS) that apparently ignored the stopped school bus and flashing red lights. The Waymo AV also drove past the school bus stop arm and the deployed crossing control arm.
The Waymo automated vehicle approached the right side of the stopped school bus from a side street and stopped first.
The Waymo accelerated and drove around the front of the bus by turning right to avoid hitting the front of the school bus. As can be seen in the videoThe car then turned left, passed the bus and drove off the highway.
To do this, the unmanned Waymo AV had to ignore and drive past the bus’s extended crossing control arm and stop sign.
NHTSA and Waymo discussed the incident and concluded “the likelihood of other prior similar incidents is high” but not captured on video.
According to federal safety authorities, Waymo’s automated driving systems have racked up some serious mileage, estimated at about 2 million miles per week. As of July 2025, automated driving systems were responsible for 160 million kilometers of driving.
CarComplaints.com will update our website with the results of the Waymo AV/school bus survey.
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