US probes reports Waymo self-driving cars illegally passed school buses 19 times in Texas
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating Waymo after reports that its self-driving cars illegally passed school buses 19 times in Texas. Despite software updates, incidents continued, prompting the Austin Independent School District to request a halt in operations near schools during pick-up and drop-off times. Waymo has not yet commented.
Dec 4 (Reuters) - A U.S. agency said Thursday it has asked Waymo to answer more questions after Texas officials said the Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit’s self-driving vehicles had illegally passed school buses 19 times since the start of the school year.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a probe in October after an incident in Georgia in which a Waymo did not remain stationary when approaching a school bus with its red lights flashing and stop arm deployed.
In a Nov. 20 letter posted by NHTSA, the Austin Independent School District said five incidents occurred in November after Waymo said it had made software updates to resolve the issue and asked the company to halt operations around schools during pick-up and drop-off times until the company could ensure the vehicles would not violate the law. Waymo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
