Waymo robotaxis kept illegally passing stopped school buses after the company's software fix, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a recall query to find out why. In a November 6 filing, NHTSA said most of the reported incidents happened after Waymo finished rolling out the update.
Waymo's December 2025 recall covered 3,067 vehicles running its fifth-generation automated driving system, and NHTSA's recall record says all of them were updated by November 17, 2025. The new query covers 2,895 vehicles, according to reports on the filing, and will look at whether the fix was adequate and what caused the later violations.
What a Recall Query Does
A recall query is how NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation checks whether a completed recall actually solved the problem. It lets the agency request data from Waymo and test the remedy. It is an investigative step rather than a finding, and on its own it doesn't require a new recall or bring a penalty.
In a statement to TechCrunch, a Waymo spokesperson said, "We have made significant improvements to vehicle behavior around school buses and have received no citations since March 2026." The company said it will respond to NHTSA's query once it receives it.
How the Problem Came to Light
NHTSA opened its first investigation in October 2025 after footage from Atlanta showed a Waymo vehicle driving around a school bus that had its stop arm out and red lights flashing while children were getting off. In some of the incidents, the robotaxi slowed or stopped first and then went past the bus anyway.
More incidents followed in Austin, where Waymo also runs its robotaxi service. Austin Independent School District officials reported at least five of them in a letter to NHTSA at the time.
