Okay, so get this: The National Transportation Safety Board – yeah, that NTSB – is actually poking around Waymo. Not just like, a casual glance, but a full-blown investigation. And you know what they’re looking at? Waymo’s robotaxis illegally blowing past school buses. School buses, people. With their stop signs out, lights flashing. You know, the universal signal that says, “HEY, KIDS ARE GETTING ON OR OFF HERE, DON’T YOU DARE MOVE!”

Seriously, What Are We Doing Here?

I read this on Engadget, and honestly, my jaw hit the floor. This isn’t some minor traffic infraction, right? This is a fundamental, bedrock rule of driving that we all learn, like, the second we get behind the wheel. You see a school bus, lights on, stop arm extended, you STOP. Full stop. No ifs, ands, or buts. It’s not complicated. It’s for the safety of actual, living, breathing children.

But apparently, Waymo’s fancy-pants self-driving cars, the ones they’re touting as the future, are just… not getting it. The NTSB’s stepping in because these vehicles have been spotted doing this boneheaded move multiple times. It’s not an isolated incident. We’re talking at least two, maybe more, where the robotaxis either fully passed a stopped bus or, and this is almost worse, just completely ignored the stop arm and drove around it.

It’s a “Critical Event,” They Say

The NTSB calls these “critical events.” You think? I mean, who cares if it’s a critical event or just, you know, a completely avoidable, terrifying situation waiting to happen. This isn’t just some fender bender. This is about kids. Little humans, running across the street, sometimes distracted, sometimes not looking both ways because they assume- no, they know- traffic is going to stop for them.

And these robotaxis? They’re programmed to operate. To follow rules. But if they can’t even get this basic, crucial, life-saving rule right, what are we even talking about? How can we trust them with anything more complex than driving on a perfectly empty highway? I mean, come on.

So, Are Robotaxis Just Really Bad Drivers?

Look, I’ve seen some pretty questionable driving from human beings in my time. We all have. But we’re talking about a system here that’s supposed to be superior to human driving. Safer. More consistent. Less prone to distraction, road rage, or, you know, just being an idiot.

But here’s the thing: Waymo’s vehicles are supposed to be detecting everything. Other cars, pedestrians, cyclists, squirrels. You’re telling me they can’t reliably detect a giant, bright yellow school bus with flashing lights and a huge stop sign sticking out its side? That’s just… baffling. It really is. It makes you wonder what else they’re missing.

“The whole point of autonomous vehicles was supposed to be eliminating human error. But what if the error is baked into the code itself?”

It’s not just Waymo, either. Remember all the kerfuffle with other AVs and emergency vehicles? Or just general weirdness? It seems like every few months there’s another story about a robotaxi doing something utterly illogical or getting itself into a jam that a half-decent human driver would have navigated with ease. It’s like they’re brilliant at some things – staying in a lane, perfectly obeying speed limits – but completely clueless about the nuances, the unspoken rules, the human element of driving.

The Deeper Problem

This whole situation highlights a pretty fundamental flaw, if you ask me. It’s not just about a bug in the system, though I’m sure Waymo will eventually trot out some explanation about a “software update” or “sensor recalibration.” The real problem is this relentless push to deploy technology that clearly isn’t ready for prime time, especially when it involves public safety, especially when it involves kids.

They’re testing these things on our streets. With our families. And sure, they’ve got tons of data, and they’ve driven millions of miles, blah, blah, blah. But if those millions of miles haven’t taught the system to stop for a school bus, what good is any of that? It feels a lot like we’re being used as guinea pigs, and the stakes are just way too high.

And the NTSB getting involved? That’s not a pat on the head. That’s a serious flag. They don’t just jump in for trivial stuff. This means they see a pattern, a systemic issue, and a potential risk that needs a much deeper dive than just Waymo’s internal reviews. It means the public’s trust, which was already kind of shaky, is probably plummeting even further.

What This Actually Means

Here’s my take, honest and unvarnished: This isn’t just a Waymo problem; it’s an industry problem. It’s about how fast we’re willing to rush these technologies to market, driven by venture capital and the allure of “innovation,” without fully grasping – or perhaps, fully admitting – their limitations. We’re told these cars are safer, but then we hear about them endangering kids. It’s a huge disconnect.

If a human driver did this, they’d lose their license, maybe face charges. But what happens to the robot? A firmware update? A quiet patch? There’s a real accountability gap here, and it’s something we, as a society, haven’t really figured out yet. Who’s on the hook when the self-driving car messes up? Is it the programmer? The company CEO? The car itself?

Until these companies can prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that their robotaxis can reliably handle every single, critical, non-negotiable rule of the road – especially the ones that protect our most vulnerable – maybe, just maybe, they need to stay in the lab. Or on closed test tracks. Because right now, the idea of a robotaxi cruising past a school bus, oblivious to the kids crossing the street, is just too terrifying to accept.