Waymo Struggles to Safely Navigate Around School Buses

For years, Waymo has aimed to distinguish itself from other self-driving companies by prioritizing a culture of caution and safety. However, as it gears up for significant expansions across the country, it’s grappling with a troubling issue in a particularly sensitive area: school zones.

In December, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched an investigation into Waymo after Austin’s largest school district reported at least 19 instances where its robotaxis failed to come to a complete stop for school buses during loading and unloading—an illegal act in all 50 states. In response, Waymo quickly initiated a voluntary software recall and deployed updates designed to address the issue.

Unfortunately, the fix didn’t resolve the problem. Since the update, the Austin Independent School District (ISD) has reported at least four more violations, including one on January 19th, when a Waymo vehicle was caught on camera driving through the opposite lane while children waited to cross the street and board a bus with its stop arm extended. In total, there have been at least 24 safety violations involving Waymo vehicles and school buses in Austin since the beginning of the 2025 school year.

Waymo has defended its actions, pointing out that none of the incidents in Austin resulted in collisions or injuries. However, this is no longer entirely accurate on a national scale. Recently, Waymo acknowledged in a blog post that one of its vehicles struck a child outside a Santa Monica elementary school on January 23rd. Although the school district reported that the child suffered only minor injuries, the situation could have been much worse, as Waymo stated the vehicle slowed from 17 mph to 6 mph just before the impact.

Experts in autonomous vehicle safety and pedestrian interaction have expressed concern over these incidents, especially given Waymo’s goal of making its vehicles drive more “confidently assertive.” In an effort to shed the image of overly cautious driving, the vehicles have been observed bending traffic rules. However, this attempt to make robotaxis appear more human-like also risks them adopting some of our more dangerous driving behaviors.

“These technologies are still being developed and tested in a real-world environment because there are many unpredictable factors that companies and engineers struggle to anticipate,” said Wendy Ju, a professor at Cornell Tech and expert in human-robot interaction. “Without a comprehensive understanding of all possible scenarios, it’s challenging to design effective solutions.”

Waymo has not responded to multiple requests for comment. During a Senate hearing, Waymo’s chief safety officer, Mauricio Peña, addressed safety concerns and stated that the company is reviewing each school bus incident and developing fixes, some of which have already been integrated into its software. Peña also mentioned that they are collaborating with Austin ISD to gather data on various lighting conditions and scenarios. Notably, Waymo did not commit to halting operations around school buses during this data collection and testing phase.

Navigating around school buses presents a significant challenge for both human and autonomous drivers. The NHTSA reported 61 fatalities due to vehicles illegally passing school buses from 2000 to 2023, with nearly half of those victims being pedestrians under 18. The danger stems less from the bus drivers, who are typically licensed and careful, and more from the unpredictable nature of the situation. Buses are often crowded, and children may not wait to cross the street as instructed.

“Waymo is facing challenges because every driver encounters difficulties around school buses,” Ju noted.

As a result, drivers must rely on experience and intuition alongside the strict rules they learned in driver’s education. This kind of common-sense judgment, which comes naturally to skilled human drivers, is particularly difficult for self-driving cars to replicate.

“There are numerous moments where a judgment call is necessary between competing actions,” Ju explained.

On a technical level, there may be additional factors at play. Missy Cummings, a professor at George Mason University and director of the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center, suggested that the increase in safety issues involving school buses may be linked to Waymo’s shift from traditional modular machine learning to a greater focus on end-to-end learning, a technology she describes as “faddish” and “still nascent.”

Waymo claims to use a combination of both approaches, but some speculate that the balance is shifting.

Earlier autonomous vehicle systems relied on conservative, layered architectures, with distinct modules for detecting objects, classifying them, and applying explicit safety rules for vehicle responses. In contrast, end-to-end learning consolidates much of this process into a single model that processes all sensor data simultaneously and makes driving decisions based on patterns learned from extensive human driving behavior. While this can create a more “natural” and human-like driving experience, Cummings argues it can also introduce additional risks, particularly in high-stakes situations like school bus stops.

The safety incidents reflect “all the hallmarks of problems when you change architecture,” Cummings stated. “I suspect many robotaxi companies are experiencing similar issues.”

Austin ISD has made its stance clear, reportedly asking Waymo to suspend robotaxi operations around schools during loading and unloading times until the issues are resolved. However, Waymo has declined this request and continues to operate, a decision experts view as shortsighted and inconsistent with the company’s public commitment to safety.

“It’s concerning that Waymo wouldn’t agree to that,” Cummings remarked. “We’re only talking about a brief period in the morning and afternoon, so it wouldn’t be a significant burden to pause operations.”

Philip Koopman, a professor at Carnegie Mellon and an expert in AV safety, echoed this sentiment in a recent newsletter.

“Waymo is making a conscious choice to gamble with children’s lives,” Koopman wrote. “They may believe they can manage the risks, but it’s not their gamble to make.”

While most of the school bus incidents have occurred in Austin, this may be partly due to the city recently equipping each stop arm with cameras. This means similar incidents could be happening elsewhere without being reported. Austin ISD did not respond to requests for comment. Reports indicate that similar problems are occurring in Atlanta as well.

The incidents involving school buses, along with the child struck in California, have triggered three federal investigations in just a few months. Although it’s unlikely in Texas’ lenient AV regulatory environment, these events could jeopardize Waymo’s operating license. As investigators prepare to visit Austin to examine the situation, robotaxis continue to operate in school zones. This reckless approach could deter other municipalities from allowing Waymo’s vehicles on their streets.

“Waymo brought this upon themselves,” Cummings concluded. “If they had acted responsibly and voluntarily stayed out of school zones until they resolved these issues, they wouldn’t be facing such a significant public investigation.”