AUSTIN (KXAN) – In November, on Austin’s South First Street, cameras caught a Waymo automated vehicle drive past an Austin Independent School District school bus’ flashing stop signs. At first, the driverless car stopped while a student crossed in front of it – but video shows the car accelerating forward before the student could cross the other lane of traffic or get out of the road.

Just two days before, in north Austin, bus surveillance cameras also recorded a different Waymo illegally passing an AISD bus as students crossed the street.

The traffic violation was one of many times the stop-arm cameras AISD installed on all its buses in 2016 had been recording (and sending tickets to Waymo) over similar violations this school year. District records show since the first week of school, AISD’s system caught Waymo illegally passing its school buses 19 times.

Texas law requires motorists to come to a complete stop when a school bus is stopped with its stop-arm extended and its lights flashing. Drivers are not allowed to proceed until the school bus resumes motion. According to the Austin ISD Police Department, since August 2025, the district has mailed more than 6,700 school bus citations.

Videos NewsNation local affiliate KXAN obtained show some Waymos not stopping for the district’s school buses. In some cases, the automated vehicle would drive past the first stop-arm on the bus and abruptly stop alongside the bus before passing the second stop-arm. In others, the Waymo would stop briefly and then seconds later maneuver around the bus while the stop-arm was still deployed.  

In six of the videos KXAN reviewed, children could be seen in a video frame.

Because of the safety concerns – which Waymo officials said they’ve already addressed with software changes – AISD leaders are asking Waymo to stop operating during hours when students are getting on and off buses throughout the city until the company can guarantee the vehicles will comply with Texas law.

“My belief is that if we are truly concerned about student safety that we stop doing things that we knowingly have documentation is creating safety issues for kids,” Austin ISD Police Chief Wayne Sneed said.

‘A rapidly increasing pattern’

By October, AISD officials realized there was an issue with Waymo. The district’s stop-arm cameras at that point recorded Waymo vehicles illegally passing their school buses 12 times. AISD’s senior legal counsel sent a letter to Waymo on Oct. 29 asking it to pay $2,100 in outstanding fines and to take immediate action to fix the issue.

Two weeks before AISD sent that letter, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, began looking into Waymo and how its fleet operates around school buses, records state.

NHTSA’s investigation was prompted by a viral cell phone video from September showing a Waymo failing to remain stopped when approaching a school bus in Metro Atlanta. According to the report, the bus had red lights flashing, the stop-arm deployed, and the crossing arm control arm deployed – but the Waymo passed the entire left side of the bus while students were getting off on the other side.

Waymo said the Atlanta school bus was blocking a driveway its vehicle was exiting, the flashing lights and stop sign were not visible and it kept a safe distance from the kids getting off the bus.

On Nov. 5, email records show Waymo sent Austin ISD’s legal team a letter indicating it had made “certain software updates” to improve performance around school buses.

On Nov. 20, district leaders said its system had recorded seven more violations, with the most recent incident on South First Street on Nov. 14.

“The situation has escalated. There have been several additional violations, including camera footage showing Waymo vehicles in motion while our students are present,” Senior Counsel Jennifer Oliaro wrote in a Nov. 20 email to Waymo.

The district, according to its Nov. 20 letter, wanted Waymo to immediately cease operating its fleet of automated vehicles from 5:20 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and again from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. “until more in-depth software updates” were completed and the company could guarantee the vehicles could comply with the law.

“This is a serious, dangerous situation for Austin ISD. Austin ISD is reviewing all potential legal remedies at its disposal and intends to take whatever action is necessary to protect its students,” Oliaro told KXAN.

Waymo told KXAN it had identified issues where its vehicles may initially slow down or stop for a school bus, but then ended up proceeding while the bus stop sign was extended or flashing lights were active. The company said during the incidents identified by the district, its automated vehicles proceeded cautiously when no individuals were in the path of the vehicle.

“Safety is our top priority at Waymo, including how we interact with school buses. We have already implemented software updates to address this situation and are committed to improving road safety through our ongoing learnings and experience,” Waymo officials told KXAN.

The company said the software updates meant to address its vehicles’ issues with school buses were implemented over a period of days and were completely incorporated into Waymo’s fleet by Nov. 17.

When asked whether the company would agree to AISD’s request for Waymos not to operate while buses were loading and unloading students, Waymo officials said they believed the software updates meaningfully improved performance.

Waymo expanding

Waymo announced plans to bring its driverless cars to three more Texas cities soon – Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

The Austin Police Department, along with other stakeholders, including AISD Police, have been meeting with Waymo monthly to discuss ongoing safety improvements and concerns. The next meeting is expected to happen Thursday.

APD said, during those meetings, it addressed concerns the agency has seen while Waymo has been operating in Austin, including issues with the autonomous vehicles recognizing and adhering to directions from officers on foot and motorcycles with lights activated.

APD Lt. William White — who spearheads the meetings with Waymo — said his officers have observed the vehicles maneuvering around officers and disregarding directions if there is a green light.

In response to KXAN’s questions about safety concerns raised by APD, Waymo said the company made progress with understanding road user gestures and is using advanced machine learning models to prepare Waymo vehicles to detect and respond to situations.

For its part, AISD’s senior legal counsel said it is “reviewing all potential legal remedies at its disposal” to protect its students. Waymo, in its letter to the district on Nov. 20, asked to meet in person with AISD leadership to “mitigate the issues that led to the citations.”

Lead Editor Eric Lefenfeld and News Photojournalist Ed Zavala contributed to this report.