On September 22, 2025, a Waymo robotaxi drove past a stopped school bus in Atlanta while students were getting off. NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation to examine that event and similar behavior. Waymo later reported a software remedy for 3,067 vehicles; a separate school-bus incident in Austin was documented by the NTSB in 2026.
What happened in Atlanta?
NHTSA’s December 3, 2025 information request says the Waymo automated vehicle approached a stopped school bus from a perpendicular side street. The bus had flashing red lights, its stop arm extended, and a crossing-control arm deployed at the front. The vehicle did not remain stopped: it passed in front of the bus and continued down the road, passing near the crossing-control arm while students were disembarking and then passing the stop arm on the other side. NHTSA’s PE25013 information request describes the event. Waymo’s later recall filing identifies September 22 as the first known event resulting from the behavior and says the vehicle slowed to 5 mph before proceeding while the bus’s stop arm was still extended. Waymo’s recall report says no collisions were related to the behavior.
The initial investigation resume identified the system as Waymo’s fifth-generation automated driving system and estimated a population of 2,000 vehicles when NHTSA opened the evaluation. That was an initial estimate, not the population subsequently included in Waymo’s recall. NHTSA’s investigation record
Why did NHTSA investigate?
NHTSA opened preliminary evaluation PE25013 after a media report about the Atlanta incident. The agency said it would examine the scope of the issue and identify similar incidents. Its request covered more than a vehicle passing a bus during the exact moment children were stepping off: it asked about passing a bus preparing to load or unload, while passengers were being loaded or unloaded, as that process concluded, or at any time the stop arm was extended. NHTSA’s information request
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NHTSA said it was concerned that unexpected driving behavior or failure to comply with school-bus safety rules could increase the risk of a crash, injury, or property damage. The agency’s evaluation concerns the system’s behavior and whether similar events occurred; opening a preliminary evaluation is not, by itself, a finding that a defect exists.
What did Waymo recall and change?
Waymo’s Part 573 filing says engineers identified the behavior during analysis in October 2025. The company’s Field Safety Committee approved an out-of-cadence software hotfix on October 30, and, after validation, the update was deployed incrementally to affected vehicles from November 5 through November 17, 2025. Waymo’s recall report
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The filing describes a system behavior that prioritized moving to avoid impeding other road users. That prioritization could lead the automated driving system to proceed when it should stay stopped for a school bus. The software remedy was intended to prevent that priority from overriding the requirement to stop for a bus with flashing red lights and/or an extended stop arm. The recall covered 3,067 fifth-generation ADS vehicles, according to Waymo’s filing—not the 2,000-vehicle estimate in NHTSA’s initial investigation resume.
Waymo reported 12 citations related to the behavior, all dated from September 25 through November 14, 2025. The company also reported no related collisions. Those are figures in Waymo’s recall filing, not an independent count of every possible event. Waymo’s recall report
Was there another school-bus incident?
Yes. The NTSB’s preliminary account describes a separate event in Austin, Texas, on January 12, 2026. A Waymo vehicle initially stopped for a school bus loading students. After other traffic passed, it asked a remote assistance agent, “is this a school bus with active signals?” The agent answered “No,” and the vehicle proceeded while the stop arms were still extended. The NTSB said six vehicles passed the stopped bus and no crash occurred. It listed the Austin investigation as ongoing in its preliminary account. NTSB’s Austin investigation
The NTSB account also says Austin ISD had reported multiple Waymo vehicles passing buses since the start of the 2025–2026 school year. This Austin incident is not the Atlanta event and is not the same proceeding as NHTSA’s PE25013 evaluation. The NTSB investigations index, updated April 20, 2026, listed the Austin matter as ongoing. NTSB investigations index
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What is the status of NHTSA’s Atlanta probe?
The official records available here establish that NHTSA opened PE25013 and that Waymo later filed a recall remedy. They do not establish a subsequent NHTSA closure or status change. The NTSB’s ongoing Austin investigation is separate and does not determine the status of NHTSA’s Atlanta evaluation. NHTSA PE25013 record NTSB Austin investigation
How do school-bus stopping rules apply?
NHTSA says all states require traffic approaching a stopped school bus with its stop indications to stop in most situations, but laws differ in wording and in specific road configurations. Divided highways and vehicles approaching from the opposite direction can be treated differently depending on state law. There is no single rule that can accurately describe every state’s requirements. NHTSA school-bus safety guidance
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NHTSA reports an estimate of more than 43.5 million illegal school-bus passings in the United States during the 2022–2023 school year. That figure is based on a 2023 National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services survey of bus drivers, as reported by NHTSA; it is an estimate, not a complete direct count. NHTSA school-bus safety guidance
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