Austin ISD parents concerned after Waymo cars caught illegally passing school buses

Waymo continues passing stopped AISD school buses

Parents in Austin are concerned after self-driving Waymo vehicles were caught illegally passing school buses while children were getting on and off.

AUSTIN, Texas - Parents in Austin are concerned after self-driving Waymo vehicles were caught illegally passing school buses while children were getting on and off.

Austin ISD reported dozens of violations, even after software updates the company said were meant to fix the problem.

What they're saying:

Austin ISD is asking Waymo to cease operations in the mornings and afternoons during school days when students are using school buses.

Every Austin ISD school bus has multiple cameras on it, designed to catch drivers who illegally pass a bus when the red lights are activated.

Waymo cars pass AISD buses 20 times, district says

Austin ISD has videos showing Waymo, a self-driving vehicle, illegally passing its school buses 20 times since the first week of classes, August 2025, to now.

"The footage is automatically sent to Bus Patrol anytime it's capturing what it believes are violations through its programming and then the Bus Patrol has staff on the back end that will filter all the captured video to ensure that they're only sending us what they believe through our meetings and their understanding of Texas Transportation Code are legitimate offenses as it's defined under the Texas Transportation code," Austin ISD PD Assistant Chief Travis Pickford said.

If Austin ISD police determine it is a violation, a citation is mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle.

Timeline:

Since the start of the school year, AISD said Waymo vehicles have received 24 stop-arm violations.

"We've issued more than 7,000 violations to vehicles passing our school buses, and 12, or in this case now, 24 violations does seem like a small drop in the bucket, but I think it's important to point out that, based on the statistics that we run of everybody that received or was issued, a stop arm violation for the first semester, approximately 98% of people who received one did not receive a second one," Assistant Chief Pickford said.

AISD said violations are still happening even after Waymo implemented a software update in November and recall in December. The most recent violations occurred on Dec. 11, 13, 19, and Jan. 12.

Waymo runs into self driving car issues in Austin

Waymo self driving cars run into challenges as Austin police recognize issues concerning hand signals and officers, along with school bus laws.

"We want to make sure that when parents send their children out the front door to go to school, whether they're riding a bicycle or riding a bus, we want our parents and our kids to feel safe," Assistant Chief Pickford said. "I think it's safe to say that we're seeing that our children, through the videos that we're capturing on our stop arm safety program, are less safe when a Waymo is passing by one of our buses and violating our stop-arm program."

A Waymo spokesperson provided a statement below:

"Our vehicles have 12x fewer crashes involving injuries to pedestrians compared to human benchmarks, and we're invested in demonstrating exceptional driving performance around school bus interactions that exceed human-driven vehicles. We have met with Austin ISD, including on a collaborative data collection of various light patterns and conditions, and are reviewing these learnings. We have seen material improvement in our performance since our software update."

Austin ISD parents react

Concerned parents said technology is failing when it matters most.

"There's definitely outrage from the community," Amber White said.

"When you're driving through a school zone you kind of look both ways because you are you know as human that kids could be around, and they don't react as we do," Rogelio Perez said.

"Thank goodness no one is getting hurt, that people are aware, but you know, one day, you know you just wonder about the what if, what if one day it does happen?" Natalie Hernandez said.

Dig deeper:

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said their investigation into Waymo vehicles’ behavior around stopped school buses remains open. 

"NHTSA reminds everyone that passing a stopped school bus with a stop arm extended is illegal in all 50 states and U.S. territories. It’s the law for good reason: 36 children were struck and killed by other vehicles near school buses from 2014-2023."