Regulators are investigating Waymo after it drove its robotaxi around a parked school bus

A Waymo robo-taxi was recently spotted driving around a school bus with its red lights flashing, and federal safety regulators have opened an investigation as a result.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced Monday morning that its Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has opened an investigation after seeing footage from early October of a Waymo self-driving car maneuvering around a parked school bus that was unloading children in Atlanta, Georgia.

ODI says in a document that it will investigate the performance of Waymo’s self-driving software around parked school buses, how the system is designed to comply with rules around buses, and more. NHTSA said Monday that based on its dealings with Waymo to date, “the likelihood of other prior similar incidents is high.”

The Waymo robotic vehicle in question crossed perpendicularly in front of the school bus on its right side. The self-driving car then turned left around the front of the bus before driving down the street. According to Waymo, the bus was partially blocking the lane that the robo-taxi was leaving. The company claims the robo-taxi couldn’t see flashing lights or a stop sign. Waymo did not immediately respond to a question about whether the car could see students getting off the bus, or the bus’s control arm.

“Safety is our top priority as we provide hundreds of thousands of fully self-driving paid rides every week in some of the most challenging driving environments in the United States,” the company said in a statement, while citing data showing its cars are involved in fewer accidents than those driven by humans. “NHTSA plays a vital role in road safety, and we will continue to work collaboratively with the agency as part of our mission to be the world’s most trusted driver.”

Waymo also said Monday that it has already released software updates to its fleet to improve performance.

This has been a year of expansion for Waymo. The company launched in Atlanta, brought its robotaxis to Austin, expanded across Silicon Valley, and is currently testing them in a number of other metro areas, including New York City. It is also being tested at San Jose and San Francisco airports, and has several other cities lined up for 2026.

Part of the process of launching in new cities is confronting the self-driving system and learning from new scenarios — although it’s safe to say that Atlanta wasn’t the first place Waymo’s robotaxis have seen school buses.

This isn’t the first time NHTSA has opened an investigation into Waymo’s self-driving cars. In 2023, NHTSA investigated reports that Waymo vehicles were experiencing roadblocks such as gates and chains in low-speed situations. That investigation eventually led to a recall in 2024, which Waymo addressed with a software update. Last year, the agency announced an investigation focusing on reports that Waymo vehicles had driven the wrong way or entered construction zones.