{"id":136702,"date":"2026-01-24T18:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T18:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/136702\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T18:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T18:50:12","slug":"ntsb-will-investigate-why-waymos-robotaxis-are-illegally-passing-school-buses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/136702\/","title":{"rendered":"NTSB will investigate why Waymo&#8217;s robotaxis are illegally passing school buses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a data-i13n=\"elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:1;pos:1\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/transportation\/evs\/waymo-is-now-available-in-miami-162515070.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Waymo;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:1;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Waymo<\/a> has caught the attention of the National Transportation Safety Board as the federal agency launched an official investigation into the company for its robotaxis improperly passing school buses in Austin, Texas. The NTSB <a data-i13n=\"elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:2;pos:1\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NTSB_Newsroom\/status\/2014817506477703198\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:said on X;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:2;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">said on X<\/a> that it would &#8220;examine the interaction between Waymo vehicles and school buses stopped for loading and unloading students.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The latest federal probe stems from a preliminary evaluation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that looked into how Waymo reacts to stopped school buses in the Texas city. That report led to Waymo&#8217;s <a data-i13n=\"elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:3;pos:1\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/transportation\/waymos-robotaxi-fleet-is-being-recalled-again-this-time-for-failing-to-stop-for-school-buses-190222243.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:voluntary software recall;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:3;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">voluntary software recall<\/a> in December. However, the school district said <a data-i13n=\"elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:4;pos:1\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/static.nhtsa.gov\/odi\/inv\/2025\/INOT-PE25013-30888P1.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:in a memo;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:4;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">in a memo<\/a> that the robotaxis were seen repeating the same offense days after the software update.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As for the NTSB investigation, an agency spokesperson told the <a data-i13n=\"elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:5;pos:1\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.statesman.com\/business\/technology\/article\/ntsb-waymo-investigation-austin-school-bus-21312004.php\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Austin American-Statesman;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:5;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">Austin American-Statesman<\/a> that its &#8220;investigators will travel to Austin to gather information on a series of incidents in which the automated vehicles failed to stop for loading or unloading students.&#8221; According to an NTSB spokesperson, a preliminary report will be out within 30 days, but the final report will take anywhere between 12 and 24 months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In response, Mauricio Pe\u00f1a, chief safety officer for Waymo, said in a statement to <a data-i13n=\"elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:6;pos:1\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/ntsb-investigation-waymo-robotaxis-passing-school-buses-austin-texas\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:multiple news outlets;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:6;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">multiple news outlets<\/a> that &#8220;there have been no collisions in the events in question, and we are confident that our safety performance around school buses is superior to human drivers,&#8221; adding that the investigation will be &#8220;an opportunity to provide the NTSB with transparent insights into our safety-first approach.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Waymo has caught the attention of the National Transportation Safety Board as the federal agency launched an official&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136703,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,30583,505,3335,58047,57948,58046,27,10020],"class_list":{"0":"post-136702","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news","11":"tag-national-highway-traffic-safety-administration","12":"tag-national-transportation-safety-board","13":"tag-ntsb","14":"tag-official-investigation","15":"tag-school-buses","16":"tag-stopped-school-buses","17":"tag-texas","18":"tag-waymo"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}