Waymo is recalling 3,067 vehicles due to a software issue that led to it several incidents in which the autonomous cars drove around, school buses stopped.
The recall affects certain fifth-generation automated driving systems, according to a Nov. 8 notice posted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The software can cause vehicles to pass a stopped school bus even if the red lights are flashing or the stop arm is extended, increasing the risk of a collision with a pedestrian, the agency said.
Waymo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the NHTSA, all 50 states have laws requiring vehicles to stop in front of a school bus with flashing red lights and an deployed stop arm signal.
Waymo told CBS News last week that it planned to issue a recall. At the time, a spokesperson said the company had identified the software issue that contributed to the school bus incidents and had repaired the affected vehicles by Nov. 17.
The recall follows multiple reports that the company’s self-driving cars circled school buses on the road in Austin, Texas.
On December 5, the Austin Independent School District said it was aware of 20 incidents this school year in which a Waymo vehicle illegally passed a school bus. JJ Maldonado, a communications specialist for the school district, told CBS News last week that a 20th complaint was issued after Waymo said it had resolved the software problem.
NHTSA launched an investigation into Waymo in October after a similar school bus case incident in Atlanta. The public school district there said it was aware of six cases as of Dec. 5 in which Waymo cars illegally drove past and stopped school buses.
Waymo, owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, offers hundreds of thousands of driverless rides each week in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Phoenix and Atlanta, and plans to expand to 20 other cities.
