Waymo Criticizes Tesla Even Though Its Autonomous Taxis Still Violate School Bus Rules

JAKARTA - Waymo founder John Krafcik, came under fire this week after calling Tesla's approach of relying solely on cameras for its Full Self Driving system a narrow-minded move. However, as the criticism rolled in, the self-driving taxi service Waymo he helped build was back in the crosshairs.

Waymo's robotaxi is suspected of illegally overtaking school buses repeatedly, an action that is considered potentially dangerous for children's safety. This problem resurfaced in Austin, Texas, after the Austin Independent School District (Austin ISD) stated that Waymo's autonomous vehicles were still committing violations.

Although, the company claims to have completed the repair through a software update. Austin ISD assessed that the latest incident occurred only two days after the latest software recall which Waymo said had been completed.

Instead of improving, the continued violations frustrated the school district and asked Waymo to stop its operations in Austin. At least during the crucial hours when students go to and from school.

"Austin ISD is again asking Waymo to cease operations during the morning and afternoon during school days when our students use our buses. Austin ISD continues to explore all available legal remedies," the Austin School District said in a statement, quoted by Electrek, January 22.

A report by School Transportation News said Waymo had informed Austin ISD that a software update had been made to resolve the issue on November 5, 2025. However, a memo dated November 20 from Austin ISD's legal counsel stated that at least five violations continued to occur after the update was implemented.

"In short, the Waymo software update is clearly not working as it should and not as quickly as it needs to. We cannot allow Waymo to continue to endanger our students while they attempt to implement a fix," the Austin ISD memo read.

This case is not the first time Waymo has been in the spotlight. The company was previously of interest to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) after one of its cars was caught on camera illegally overtaking a school bus that had stopped to drop off children in Atlanta.

In general, autonomous vehicles are often promised to be safer than human drivers because they are not distracted by various things, and are able to consistently comply with traffic rules. However, if violations like this still occur, big questions arise about their suitability on the highway.

Even so, the violation of overtaking school buses is not only carried out by autonomous vehicles. There are still many human drivers who still often do the same thing. However, when the culprit is an automatic system that is sold with claims of precision and safety, public tolerance is certainly lower.