NHTSA Questions Waymo School Bus Fix in Recall Query Covering 2,895 Vehicles

Most of the violations came after Waymo said its software remedy was fully deployed on Nov. 17, 2025, NHTSA said.

November 9, 2026 · MPF Staff

A white Waymo Jaguar I-Pace with roof sensors parked on a San Francisco street of Victorian houses as riders open its doors and trunk — Riders and a Waymo Jaguar I-Pace robotaxi in San Francisco, in a Waymo press image. Image Credit: Waymo

Key Takeaways

Waymo recall 25E084 covered 3,067 driverless vehicles with fifth-generation software that failed to stop for school buses with flashing red lights or extended stop arms
NHTSA opened recall query on 2,895 Waymo vehicles after software fix in November 2025 failed to prevent school bus passing violations reported afterward
Austin Independent School District documented 19 violations and issued $300 tickets to Waymo; Atlanta schools recorded six more violations between September and November 2025

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a recall query Nov. 6 covering 2,895 Waymo vehicles to determine whether a software update issued under a December 2025 recall stopped the company’s driverless cars from passing school buses that have red lights flashing or stop arms extended, according to the agency’s opening document. Reuters reported the query Nov. 9.

NHTSA said most of the incidents occurred after Nov. 17, 2025, the date Waymo told the agency it had completed the remedy on all affected vehicles. The query will assess whether the remedy is adequate and look into what caused the incidents that happened afterward.

What the Original Recall Covered

Waymo’s recall 25E084, filed Dec. 10, 2025, covered 3,067 vehicles running fifth-generation automated driving system software released from Aug. 20, 2025, up to the Nov. 5, 2025, release. In its report to NHTSA, Waymo said vehicles stopped or stopping for a school bus with its red lights flashing or stop arm extended could proceed again before the bus turned off its lights or retracted the arm.

Waymo said the behavior first appeared with the Aug. 20 software release, which was broadly deployed in mid-September 2025, and traced it to changes in how the system predicts the intended behavior of other road users. In some encounters the system decided it might be impeding the school bus or another priority vehicle and moved on to stop impeding it.

The first known event was on Sept. 22, 2025, when a Waymo vehicle slowed to 5 mph for a school bus and then proceeded before the bus had retracted its stop arm. Waymo said it updated all affected vehicles between Nov. 5 and Nov. 17, 2025, and its Safety Board decided on Dec. 2 to conduct a recall. The company reported 12 related citations between Sept. 25 and Nov. 14, 2025, and no collisions.

School District Reports and Other Probes

The Austin Independent School District documented 19 violations and issued numerous $300 tickets to Waymo, Reuters reported. Public schools in Atlanta recorded six more.

NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation in October 2025 into Waymo vehicles illegally passing stopped school buses. It closed that investigation Nov. 6 and opened the recall query the same day. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the school bus incidents.

Separately, NHTSA and the NTSB opened probes after a Waymo vehicle struck a child in January near an elementary school in Santa Monica, California.

“We have made significant improvements to vehicle behavior around school buses and have received no citations since March,” Waymo said in a statement. The company said it will respond to NHTSA’s query.