The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a “recall query” to “assess the adequacy of the remedy” after Waymo’s software fix for robotaxis passing stopped school buses, according to a TechCrunch report published November 9, 2026. TechCrunch says NHTSA reported in a filing dated November 6 that most of the incidents occurred after Waymo deployed the update meant to fix the problem, and that Reuters first reported the filing.

What NHTSA said

  • The filing is dated November 6, 2026, and NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened the recall query, according to TechCrunch.
  • NHTSA reported that most of the incidents occurred after the software update was deployed, according to TechCrunch.
  • TechCrunch does not give a total number of incidents.

Background

TechCrunch reports that about a year earlier Waymo updated its software and issued a recall after many reports that its robotaxis had passed stopped school buses with flashing red lights. In October 2025, NHTSA opened an initial investigation after footage showed a Waymo vehicle driving around a stopped bus in Atlanta while children were being unloaded. Officials of the Austin Independent School District reported at least five similar incidents in a letter to NHTSA, according to the article.

What Waymo said

TechCrunch reports that Waymo said a software update was completed for all affected vehicles on November 17, 2025. The article contrasts that statement with NHTSA’s finding that most incidents came after the update. TechCrunch says it contacted Waymo and Austin ISD for comment and would update the article if they responded; as published, it includes no further Waymo statement.

What the report does not include

The article does not describe the contents of NHTSA’s filing beyond the finding on timing, and it does not report whether Waymo plans a further recall or software change. Lens also covered Waymo ending its Uber partnership in Austin and Atlanta in an earlier post.

Sources and notes

This post is based on TechCrunch’s article by Kirsten Korosec, published November 9, 2026. Lens did not read NHTSA’s filing or Reuters’ report, so the agency’s statements are as TechCrunch described them. Lens did not contact Waymo, NHTSA or Austin ISD.

Image: A yellow school bus stopped at the roadside with its red STOP arm extended, by Katy Warner via Wikimedia Commons, released under CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped. Stand-in photo; it does not show the events described.