Opinion

NHTSA is asking whether Waymo's school-bus software recall did the job

NHTSA opened a recall query into Waymo after finding that a majority of reported school-bus passings came after a November 2025 software update. A query into whether that fix worked is not a closed case.

By Connor O'Brien · Nov 10, 2026, 6:05 PM EST

Why it matters: NHTSA is reviewing whether Waymo's school-bus software recall was adequate, after most reported incidents came after the update.

For information only, not investment advice.

Waymo's school-bus software recall is back under review. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a recall query after finding that a majority of reported incidents of Waymo vehicles passing stopped school buses, with flashing red lights or an extended stop arm, came after the software update meant to stop that.¹

Waymo filed recall 25E084 on December 10, 2025, and said the software remedy was completed for all affected vehicles on November 17, 2025.¹ NHTSA, reviewing incidents from its PE25013 probe, says most occurred after that date.¹ It opened the query “to assess the adequacy of the remedy for Recall 25E084 and to identify the cause(s) of the conditions leading to the post-remedy reports.”¹

NHTSA's first probe, in October 2025, followed footage of a Waymo in Atlanta going around a stopped school bus unloading children, with its stop sign out and lights flashing.² Austin Independent School District officials reported at least five such incidents, in a letter filed with NHTSA.²

A recall query is an investigation, not a finding that the update failed. A Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch: “We have made significant improvements to vehicle behavior around school buses and have received no citations since March 2026.” The company also said it will respond to NHTSA and pointed to autonomous-vehicle software that continues to learn and improve.²

I'll take that seriously. But a recall query opened because most of the reported incidents came after the remedy date is not a closed case. School buses with the stop arm out are not a place to keep learning in public. That question should have been settled when Waymo said the update was complete.

Tags: ev-autos · regulation