Waymo Faces Preliminary Probe Over School Bus Incident

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a preliminary probe into Waymo, reports Reuters.

The probe was specifically around Waymo’s 5th Generation automated driving system and how it behaves around school buses.

According to the Office of Defects’ (ODI) report, this comes after the media reported on a Waymo autonomous vehicle that didn’t stop when it should have as it approached a school bus that was disembarking children in Atlanta, Georgia. The ODI Stated:

“In the incident, the Waymo AV approached the right side of the stopped school bus from a perpendicular side street. The AV initially stopped, but then drove around the front of the bus by briefly turning right to avoid running into the bus’s right front end, then turning left to pass in front of the bus, and then turning further left and driving down the roadway past the entire left side of the bus. During this Investigation: PE25013 Open Resume Page 2 of 2 maneuver, the Waymo AV passed the bus’s extended crossing control arm near disembarking students (on the bus’s right side) and passed the extended stop arm on the bus’s left side.”

The ODI went on to say that they opened a Preliminary Evaluation regarding whether Waymo complies with school bus traffic safety laws and will look for similar instances.

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