Waymo has caught the attention of the National Transportation Safety Board as the federal agency launched a formal investigation into the company for its robotaxis improperly overtaking school buses in Austin, Texas. The NTSB said the that it would “examine the interaction between Waymo vehicles and school buses stopped to load and unload students.”
The latest federal investigation stems from a preliminary assessment by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that examined how Waymo responds to school buses stopped in the Texas city. This report led to Waymo’s investigation voluntary software recall in December. However, the school district said in a memo that robotaxis were seen repeating the same infraction a few days after the software update.
As for the NTSB investigation, an agency spokesperson told the Austin, American Statesman that its “investigators will travel to Austin to gather information on a series of incidents in which automated vehicles failed to stop to load or unload students.” According to an NTSB spokesperson, a preliminary report will be released within 30 days, but the final report will take between 12 and 24 months.
In response, Mauricio Peña, Waymo’s chief security officer, said in a statement to several media “There were no collisions during the events in question and we are confident that our safety performance around school buses is superior to that of human drivers,” adding that the investigation will be “an opportunity to provide the NTSB with transparent information about our safety-focused approach.”
