{"schema_version":"0.8.0","id":"LR-2026-0188","record_version":4,"title":"Waymo robotaxi maneuvers around stopped, unloading school bus in Atlanta","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":53.8,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":7.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":6.0,"completeness":7.04,"unhedged_language":5.0},"checks":{"schema_valid":true,"every_field_cited":true,"quotes_verbatim":true,"source_fetched":true,"distinct_incident":true,"dates_plausible":true,"sources_agree":true,"source_describes_incident":true,"severe_backed_by_source":true},"gate_version":"gate-2026-09-30.6","cross_check_model":null,"cross_check_agreement":null,"duplicate_of":null,"verified_by":null,"verified_at":"2026-10-15","extraction_run_id":null},"system":{"model_name":null,"model_version":null,"developer":"Waymo","harness":"Waymo Driver","tools_granted":[],"permissions_scope":null,"autonomy_level":"unknown","guardrails_present":[],"deployment_context":"production","tier":"provider","lifecycle_stage":"production","integration_type":null,"intended_use":"Driverless robotaxi passenger service","safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":null,"date_disclosed":"2026-10-15","incident_class":"operational_error","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":true,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"third_party","summary":"NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened a probe into Waymo robotaxis after reviewing early-October footage of a vehicle maneuvering around a stopped, unloading school bus in Atlanta; WXIA-TV aired similar video in September. Waymo has 20 school-bus citations from Austin ISD and told regulators it plans a voluntary software recall.","tags":["school-bus","robotaxi","regulatory-probe","software-recall","vulnerable-road-users"],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":"unknown","root_cause_detail":"unknown","failure_class_detail":null,"responsible_party":null,"adversarial_actor":"none","input_provenance":null,"time_to_contain":null,"operations_paused":null,"remediation":"Voluntary software recall to fix the underlying behavior","precursor_events":null},"impact":{"direct_loss_usd":null,"remediation_hours":null,"records_exposed":null,"third_parties_affected_count":null,"severity":"major","severity_because":"major: A regulator is involved: NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened a probe into Waymo over school bus behavior.","harm_class":[],"affected_description":"Stopped, unloading school buses and the Austin Independent School District","protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":[],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":null,"downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://startupfortune.com/waymo-expands-to-20-cities-as-nhtsa-opens-new-school-bus-safety-probe/","publisher":"news search (Google News index)","date":"2026-10-15","type":"press","title":"Waymo expands to 20 cities as NHTSA opens new school bus safety probe - Startup Fortune","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report"}],"per_field_confidence":{"system.harness":"C","system.tier":"D","system.lifecycle_stage":"D","system.intended_use":"C","system.developer":"C","system.deployment_context":"D","system.autonomy_level":"D","event.tags":"C","event.root_cause":"D","event.adversarial_actor":"D","event.remediation":"C","event.agent_involved":"C","event.detection_method":"D","event.summary":"C","event.incident_class":"D","event.date_disclosed":"A","event.trigger":"D","impact.affected_description":"C","impact.severity":"D","context.industry":"D","context.denominator_available":"D","context.country":"D","event.root_cause_detail":"D","impact.severity_because":"D"},"field_citations":{"system.developer":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Federal regulators just opened a fresh investigation into Waymo robotaxis driving around stopped school buses, even as the company races toward 20 cities on a $126 billion valuation."}],"system.harness":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The Waymo Driver braked from roughly 17 mph to under 6 mph before contact."}],"system.deployment_context":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The company says it's running more than 500,000 rides a week and is targeting one million by the end of the year, with London tests aimed at a launch before 2027."}],"system.lifecycle_stage":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The company says it's running more than 500,000 rides a week and is targeting one million by the end of the year, with London tests aimed at a launch before 2027."}],"system.intended_use":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The company says it's running more than 500,000 rides a week and is targeting one million by the end of the year, with London tests aimed at a launch before 2027."}],"event.detection_method":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"WXIA-TV had aired similar video in September."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said this week its Office of Defects Investigation is probing Waymo."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The agency reviewed footage from early October showing one of its vehicles maneuvering around a stopped, unloading school bus in Atlanta."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Waymo has already racked up 20 traffic citations for passing stopped school buses from the Austin Independent School District alone since the school year began, according to reporting from TechCrunch."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Waymo has told regulators it plans to file a voluntary software recall to fix the underlying behavior."}],"event.tags":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Federal regulators just opened a fresh investigation into Waymo robotaxis driving around stopped school buses, even as the company races toward 20 cities on a $126 billion valuation."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Waymo has told regulators it plans to file a voluntary software recall to fix the underlying behavior."}],"event.root_cause":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Waymo has told regulators it plans to file a voluntary software recall to fix the underlying behavior."}],"event.adversarial_actor":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The agency reviewed footage from early October showing one of its vehicles maneuvering around a stopped, unloading school bus in Atlanta."}],"event.remediation":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Waymo has told regulators it plans to file a voluntary software recall to fix the underlying behavior."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The agency reviewed footage from early October showing one of its vehicles maneuvering around a stopped, unloading school bus in Atlanta."}],"event.agent_involved":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Federal regulators just opened a fresh investigation into Waymo robotaxis driving around stopped school buses, even as the company races toward 20 cities on a $126 billion valuation."}],"impact.affected_description":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Waymo has already racked up 20 traffic citations for passing stopped school buses from the Austin Independent School District alone since the school year began, according to reporting from TechCrunch."}],"impact.severity_because":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said this week its Office of Defects Investigation is probing Waymo."}],"context.industry":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Federal regulators just opened a fresh investigation into Waymo robotaxis driving around stopped school buses, even as the company races toward 20 cities on a $126 billion valuation."}],"context.country":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The agency reviewed footage from early October showing one of its vehicles maneuvering around a stopped, unloading school bus in Atlanta."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said this week its Office of Defects Investigation is probing Waymo."}],"event.date_disclosed":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"published: 2026-10-15"}]},"notes_on_gaps":"No source states the model name or version, tools granted, permissions scope, autonomy level, guardrails present, safeguard state, production-intended flag, date occurred, date disclosed, failure class, secondary failure classes, duration, date detected, time to contain, near-miss, root-cause detail, input provenance, operations paused, precursor events, direct loss USD, remediation hours, records exposed, third-party affected count, harm class, protected class, data categories exposed, loss range, reversibility, downstream exposure count, org size band, denominator, shared model ID, upstream incident ID, incident evidence, regulatory details, or coverage. event.trigger is unknown because no source names a cause. event.root_cause is unknown because no source names what failed. event.incident_class is operational_error because the vehicle acted unintentionally with no adversary and no self-directed goal. event.detection_method is third_party because WXIA-TV, an outside organisation, aired the video first. impact.severity is major because a regulator, NHTSA, opened a probe. context.systemic_exposure is false because the recall targets Waymo's own fleet, not a shared component across deployers. event.trigger: unknown was classified, not stated; a trigger is never inferred, so it is unknown. system.tier: provider by rule (the developer is named as the operator). [aggregated by deepseek-chat, aggregate-2026-09-27.1, 2026-10-15] system.lifecycle_stage: production. system.deployment_context: production. system.autonomy_level: no source states the arrangement. event.responsible_party: provider. event.adversarial_actor: none. event.detection_method: third_party. event.incident_class: operational_error. event.trigger: no source states a cause. context.industry: classified from described behaviour. context.systemic_exposure: classified from described behaviour. context.denominator_available: no denominator is available for this incident. context.country: classified from described behaviour. [corrected by Srini Iyer, approved 2026-10-18 in the corrections review: severity reason printed the whole rubric] [corrected by Srini Iyer, approved 2026-10-22 in the corrections review: a judgement inferred by us that no source states was cleared]"},"context":{"industry":"Transportation and Warehousing","org_size_band":null,"country":"US","denominator_available":false,"denominator":null,"related_incident_ids":[],"systemic_exposure":null,"shared_model_id":null,"upstream_incident_id":null,"incident_evidence":null,"regulatory":null,"coverage":null},"narrative":{"steps":[{"step":"doing","text":"Waymo robotaxis were driving passengers in U.S. cities, including Atlanta, operating autonomously around schools and stopped buses.","quote":"Federal regulators just opened a fresh investigation into Waymo robotaxis driving around stopped school buses, even as the company races toward 20 cities on a $126 billion valuation.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"went_wrong","text":"A Waymo vehicle maneuvered around a stopped, unloading school bus instead of waiting, and the company has 20 school-bus citations from Austin ISD.","quote":"The agency reviewed footage from early October showing one of its vehicles maneuvering around a stopped, unloading school bus in Atlanta.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"reached","text":"The behavior touched stopped school buses and children near schools in Atlanta and Austin; NHTSA says similar prior incidents are likely.","quote":"based on its engagement with Waymo so far, the agency said, the \"likelihood of other prior similar incidents is high.\"","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"caught","text":"WXIA-TV aired video in September, and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation reviewed early-October footage of the Atlanta incident.","quote":"WXIA-TV had aired similar video in September.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"done","text":"NHTSA opened a probe; Waymo told regulators it plans a voluntary software recall to fix the behavior.","quote":"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said this week its Office of Defects Investigation is probing Waymo.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"}],"model":"deepseek-chat","prompt_version":"aggregate-2026-09-27.1","extracted_at":"2026-10-15","source_urls":["https://startupfortune.com/waymo-expands-to-20-cities-as-nhtsa-opens-new-school-bus-safety-probe/"]}}