The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Monday it has opened a preliminary investigation into about 2,000 Waymo self-driving vehicles after reports that the company’s robotaxis may have failed to follow traffic safety laws around a stopped school bus.
The probe of the Alphabet unit is the latest scrutiny of self-driving systems by regulators reviewing how driverless technologies interact with pedestrians, cyclists and other road users.
NHTSA opened the investigation after a recent media report aired video of an incident in Georgia in which a Waymo did not remain stationary when approaching a school bus with its red lights flashing and stop arm deployed.
The report said the Waymo vehicle initially stopped then maneuvered around the bus, passing the extended stop arm wh