US opens probe into Waymo vehicles over school bus safety violations

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched a federal investigation into Waymo's recall of nearly 3,000 self-driving vehicles, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. The probe centers on whether a software update issued to address school bus safety violations failed to prevent Waymo vehicles from illegally passing stopped school buses with flashing red lights. In December 2025, Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, issued a recall after identifying 19 instances of its driverless vehicles illegally passing school buses since the beginning of that school year, as reported by FOX 5 Atlanta. According to NHTSA, most of the reported violations occurred after November 2025, when Waymo said it had completed deploying the software fix to all affected vehicles. Federal investigators will now examine why the violations continued despite the update and whether additional corrective measures are necessary. The investigation was first reported by Reuters on November 9, 2026, and was confirmed by multiple outlets including The Verge, TechCrunch, and the Wall Street Journal, all of which noted the ongoing safety concerns surrounding Waymo's robotaxis and school bus interactions.