NHTSA Opens Investigation into Recall Remedy Effectiveness for 2,895 Waymo Vehicles

On November 9, 2026, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced an investigation into the effectiveness of the recall remedy for 2,895 vehicles from Alphabet's autonomous driving company Waymo, citing violations of traffic safety regulations when Waymo vehicles passed school buses. The investigation targets whether the software fix Waymo rolled out at the end of 2025 is effective. NHTSA will focus on the issue Waymo addressed in its December 2025 recall: vehicles would slow down or stop when encountering a school bus with flashing red lights or an extended stop arm, then proceed and pass the bus. Regulators noted that most of the violations occurred after November 2025. Austin Independent School District in Texas recorded a total of 19 violations, including one instance in which a driverless vehicle briefly stopped and then continued driving while students were still crossing the street. Public schools in Atlanta, Georgia, recorded 6 violations. In December 2025, Waymo announced a voluntary recall of more than 3,000 vehicles equipped with its fifth-generation autonomous driving system, addressing the issue through a software update. Waymo said all affected vehicles completed the software update by mid-November. In January 2026, a Waymo autonomous vehicle struck a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica, California. In October 2025, NHTSA had opened a preliminary investigation into Waymo following reports that its robotaxis failed to comply with traffic laws when driving near school buses.