The US’s foremost transportation security regulator stated on Monday it had opened a preliminary investigation into about 2,000 Waymo self-driving automobiles after studies that the corporate’s robotaxis might have didn’t comply with visitors security legal guidelines round stopped college buses.
The investigation by the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) is the most recent federal assessment of self-driving techniques as regulators scrutinize how driverless applied sciences work together with pedestrians, cyclists and different street customers.
NHTSA stated the Workplace of Defects Investigation opened the assessment after flagging a media report describing an incident wherein a Waymo autonomous car didn’t stay stationary when approaching a college bus with its purple lights flashing, cease arm deployed and crossing management arm prolonged.
The report stated the Waymo car initially stopped beside the bus then maneuvered round its entrance, passing the prolonged cease arm and crossing management arm whereas college students had been disembarking.
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Waymo has stated its robotaxi fleet has greater than 1,500 automobiles working throughout main US cities, together with Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin and New York Metropolis subsequent 12 months. The Alphabet-owned firm additionally plans to develop internationally, with launches in cities together with London in 2026 Tokyo within the coming years.
A Waymo spokesperson stated the corporate had “already developed and applied enhancements associated to stopping for varsity buses and can land extra software program updates in our subsequent software program launch”.
The corporate added: “Driving safely round kids has all the time been considered one of Waymo’s highest priorities. Within the occasion referenced, the car approached the varsity bus from an angle the place the flashing lights and cease signal weren’t seen and drove slowly across the entrance of the bus earlier than driving previous it, maintaining a secure distance from kids.”
NHTSA stated the car concerned was geared up with Waymo’s fifth-generation automated driving system and was working with no human security driver on the time of the incident.
