Autonomous vehicle company Waymo recalled 3,067 of its robotaxis following a federal probe into incidents where its cars went around stopped school buses.
Last Friday, Waymo officials said they were initiating the recall amid an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spurred by incidents in Atlanta and Austin, Texas, where their vehicles ignored laws to stop for school buses that flashed lights or extended stop sign arms while letting kids get on or off.
According to a NHTSA report Wednesday, the affected vehicles were recalled and repaired with new software from Nov. 5-17 — but school officials in Austin pointed to at least three incidents of Waymo vehicles going around buses after then.
As of Dec. 5, the Austin Independent School District had issued 20 citations to Waymo, according to CBS News.
The district has asked Waymo to cease operations in the area during times when kids would be exiting and entering buses.
Waymo has instead met with Austin school officials to improve the performance of its autonomous driving systems around buses.
“Waymo and Austin ISD are deeply invested in keeping kids safe. The two parties are collaborating together on data collection related to school buses as a part of Waymo’s efforts to continually learn and improve,” a Waymo spokesperson told the city’s KXAN-TV.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.