The future of driverless cars just slammed the brakes on public trust. Waymo, the high-profile autonomous taxi unit of Alphabet, has been forced to recall over 3,000 robotaxis after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirmed the vehicles were violating child safety laws. The shocking violation? Their software routinely ignored the stop signals of school buses, raising alarming risks for children crossing the road.
Software flaw led robotaxis to ignore bus stop signals
Waymo has pulled 3,067 of its autonomous vehicles from service after discovering they could illegally pass a stopped school bus with flashing red lights or an extended stop arm. This dangerous failure sharply increased the risk of a robotaxi hitting a child either approaching or stepping off the bus.
Although the NHTSA’s recall listing did not include a standard safety-recall report, it confirmed that the affected vehicles were running Waymo’s 5th-generation automated driving system with software versions released before November 5, 2025. The problem stemmed from the software itself, and Waymo quietly pushed an update to all impacted robotaxis by November 17, effectively resolving the issue well before the recall was formally announced.
What led to Waymo’s robotaxi recall
The recall followed an investigation by NewsNation affiliate KXAN, which revealed that Waymo’s driverless vehicles were illegally passing school buses with their stop arms extended in Austin, Texas. The Austin Independent School District reported that similar incidents occurred at least 19 times during this school year.
In response, the NHTSA launched an investigation in October to examine the “performance of the Waymo ADS [Automated Driving System] around stopped school buses, how the system is designed to comply with school bus traffic safety laws, and the system’s ability to follow those traffic safety laws.”
When the preliminary evaluation was launched, regulators noted that Waymo vehicles travel roughly 2,000,000 miles (3,218,688 km) per week and have accumulated more than 100 million miles (160,934,400 km) in total. This prompted investigators to conclude that the “likelihood of other prior similar incidents is high.”
While the investigation appears to be still ongoing, the announcement of the recall and the fix Waymo had undertaken are expected to help ease public safety concerns.
Safety worries extend beyond Texas borders
Atlanta Public Schools reported at least six similar stop-arm violations involving Waymo robotaxis between May and December, indicating that the issue isn’t limited to Texas. While Waymo primarily operates in California, Arizona, and Texas, Georgia has also served as a testing ground for the company’s autonomous vehicles. Looking ahead, amid these recent safety concerns, Waymo plans to expand its service to three additional Texas cities next year: Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.
Sources: Reuters, Carscoops, NewsNation