The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched an investigation into Waymo after one of its autonomous vehicles drove around a stopped school bus in Atlanta, Georgia. The probe was opened following a media report that raised serious concerns about how Waymo’s self-driving system responds to school bus traffic laws.
According to the NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI), the incident occurred on September 22, 2025, when a Waymo vehicle approached a school bus that had stopped with its red lights flashing, stop arm extended, and crossing control arm deployed. While the autonomous car initially came to a halt, it then maneuvered around the front of the bus—turning slightly right to avoid contact with the vehicle, then swinging left to pass in front of it, and continuing down the opposite side of the road.
During the maneuver, students were reportedly getting off the bus.
At the time of the incident, the vehicle was operating without a human safety driver and was using Waymo’s fifth-generation Automated Driving System (ADS). The company’s ADS technology, which surpassed 100 million miles of autonomous driving earlier this year, is currently logging about two million additional miles every week.
Given that scale, NHTSA noted that similar incidents could be more common than initially believed.
The investigation aims to determine whether Waymo’s automated driving system properly recognizes and complies with school bus stop laws—specifically, whether it can reliably detect red flashing lights, deployed stop arms, and pedestrians crossing in front of buses. “The Office of Defects Investigation will assess the performance of the Waymo ADS around stopped school buses and identify any similar occurrences,” NHTSA said in its report.
You can read the full NHTSA ODI Resume below.
