US probes Waymo robotaxis over school bus safety

Human Drivers vs Robotaxis & Accountability

• Some argue investigations should target pervasive human violations of school-bus rules; others insist most humans do comply and are directly punishable, unlike AVs.
• Commenters note traffic enforcement has fallen since COVID and is often sporadic or revenue-driven, which weakens deterrence for humans.
• For AVs, accountability routes through the operator’s license to operate, software updates, and regulatory probes.

Cameras, Surveillance, and Automated Enforcement

• One camp advocates widespread use of HD cameras, bus-mounted systems, and even drones to capture violators, treating tickets like parking fines (owner-liable).
• Others describe US legal quirks that make mailed camera tickets easy to ignore and require “two-way” acknowledgment.
• A strong civil-liberties thread opposes “constant surveillance,” preferring higher personal risk; supporters reply that pervasive cameras and ALPRs already exist and should be used for safety.

“Fix Once, Deploy Everywhere” vs Software Reality

• Pro-AV voices say a key advantage is that once a behavioral bug (like mishandling a school bus) is found, a software fix can be rolled out fleetwide and regression-tested—unlike human drivers whose knowledge rarely updates.
• Skeptics highlight the complexity: object classification, edge cases (stop arm timing, emergency vehicles, fog, state-by-state laws), hardware limits, and interactions with other behaviors.
• Several compare this to aviation: safety is improved iteratively through post-incident investigation, but “code written in blood” is still a concern.

Corporate Incentives, Fines, and Regulation

• Debate over whether fines should start small and escalate vs being large from the outset.
• Some fear large operators will treat penalties as a business cost and eventually lobby to cap liability; others think PR risk around harming children is a powerful counterweight.
• Multiple comments call for NTSB/FAA-style, strong federal oversight; others insist states can regulate roads adequately.

School Buses, School Zones, and Legal Complexity

• Non-US readers question why all traffic must stop for school buses; replies cite high-speed rural roads without sidewalks, crosswalks, or lights, where kids cross anywhere.
• There’s confusion and variation around:
  • When opposing lanes must stop (depends on lane count/median).
  • School-zone signs tied to “school days,” “when children are present,” or flashing lights.
• Some argue AVs can in principle handle this better by integrating calendars and map data; others say ambiguity is so high that always slowing is the only safe rule, though being too slow can create hazards.

The Specific Waymo Incident

• A video shared in the thread shows a Waymo turning slowly in front of a stopped bus, apparently trying not to block an intersection; no children are visible.
• Opinions split on whether this was dangerously unsafe or technically illegal-but-low-risk; several say a human driver might have done the same.
• Others stress that the law is intentionally strict because children can emerge unpredictably, and that AVs must visibly “over-comply” to avoid signaling to humans that passing is acceptable.

Waymo Safety and Operational Limits

• Supporters claim Waymo has driven over 100M miles with no fatalities and lower crash rates than human drivers and ride-hail drivers, and operates cautiously in multiple cities.
• Critics note the operational domain is still constrained (weather, geography, map quality), that fleets have had mapping and emergency-response failures, and that statistical proof of superiority requires vastly more exposure.
• Some emphasize that human safety could also be improved via better training, driver-assist features, and—crucially—road design (narrower lanes, traffic calming) without AVs.

Broader Concerns and Hopes

• Fears include fleet-wide bugs, hacking that could control many vehicles at once, and AV-specific legal carve-outs.
• Others envision AV-only rulesets, AV school buses that broadcast their status to surrounding vehicles, and eventual large reductions in the ~1.2M global annual road deaths—if deployment is managed carefully.