Waymo vehicle ignores school bus stop signal in Austin

This aerial illustration depicts the positions of the Waymo vehicle (ADS-V) and the stationary school bus during the incident. | Credit: NTSB

Federal authorities have opened an investigation into Waymo after a remote operator's mistake led one of its self-driving taxis to improperly pass a stopped school bus in Austin. This marks another safety violation in a growing list of incidents involving the company's autonomous vehicles.

While autonomous driving technology is promoted as a solution to human error, this particular case highlights a failure in the "human-in-the-loop" system. The vehicle correctly followed protocol by stopping and requesting assistance, but the safety system broke down when the remote operator authorized it to proceed illegally.

The incident

The event occurred on January 12, 2026, at approximately 7:55 a.m. Central Standard Time. According to the NTSB report, a 2024 Jaguar I-Pace SUV equipped with autonomous driving technology and operated by Waymo LLC passed a 2025 Thomas Built school bus owned by Austin Independent School District while it was loading students in Austin, Texas.

The most concerning aspect of this situation is that the autonomous vehicle actually stopped and queried its human safety operator: "Is this a school bus with active signals?" The remote operator incorrectly responded "No."

Waymo incorporates remote human operators into its safety framework to handle unusual scenarios like this stopped bus situation. While the autonomous vehicle correctly executed its safety stop according to established protocols, the remote operator's flawed decision demonstrates a critical disconnect between human judgment and autonomous operations.

The NTSB report further notes that six vehicles ultimately passed the school bus. However, the Waymo vehicle was the first to initially stop before deciding to proceed. By moving forward, the autonomous vehicle effectively signaled to following human drivers that continuing was both safe and legal.

This incident and similar occurrences involving Austin ISD school buses remain under active investigation as the NTSB works to determine the root cause and develop safety recommendations to prevent future violations.

The legal backdrop

Texas Transportation Code Section 545.066 mandates that drivers—and by extension, companies operating autonomous fleets—must remain stopped until school bus warning signals are turned off. Since the Waymo vehicle was first to stop and then proceeded, it essentially led other human drivers to follow its example, thereby multiplying the safety risk.

In September, WXIA-TV in Atlanta broadcast footage showing a Waymo vehicle illegally passing a stopped school bus, an incident that was also covered by The Robot Report.