Overview
- Federal investigators launched a Preliminary Evaluation covering about 2,000 Waymo vehicles equipped with the company’s fifth‑generation automated driving system and operating without safety drivers.
- The probe follows a Sept. 22 incident in Atlanta where a Waymo paused, then steered around a bus with flashing red lights, passing its stop and crossing arms as students were disembarking.
- NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation says similar incidents are likely given the fleet’s extensive mileage, and it is assessing compliance with school‑bus traffic laws.
- Waymo says it has already deployed software improvements and plans additional updates, asserting the bus’s lights and stop sign were not visible from the vehicle’s approach angle.
- No injuries were reported in the Atlanta event, and a separate San Bruno case underscored enforcement gaps when police could not issue a citation to a driverless Waymo after an illegal U‑turn.