Waymo Self-Driving Taxis Under Investigation for Driving Around a School Bus

The NHTSA is investigating reports that a driverless Waymo taxi may have failed to follow traffic laws around a stopped school bus

• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is opening an investigation into an estimated 2000 Waymo taxis.
• The NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation flagged a report that a driverless Waymo taxi failed to follow traffic laws around a stopped school bus.
• The report states that the Waymo vehicle drove in front of and around a stopped school bus while students were disembarking.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a preliminary investigation into roughly 2000 Waymo self-driving taxis. According to NHTSA, the investigatory probe is the result of a report that one of Waymo’s robotaxis may have broken traffic safety laws around a stopped school bus.

The NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation is handling the inquiry. It opened the probe following a media report that a Waymo taxi failed to remain stopped when it came up on a school bus in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 22, 2025. The report said that the Waymo vehicle initially came to a stop beside the bus before driving around the front and then along the opposite side of the bus. While the incident occured, students were getting off, the bus had its red lights flashing, and both its stop sign and crossing control arms extended, according to the report.Smith Collection/Gado|Getty Images

According to the investigation documents, the taxi involved in the incident was operating with Waymo’s fifth-generation Automated Driving System. The car did not have a human driver in it at the time.

A Waymo spokesperson confirmed to Car and Driver that the company was aware of the investigation. According to the spokesperson, the company has already made some software updates to improve the robotaxi’s performance and has plans to implement more. The spokesperson added that the bus was partially blocking a driveway that the Waymo was exiting, and that the lights and stop sign were not visible from the taxi’s point of view.

Porsche Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo Is the Quickest Wagon We’ve Tested

Porsche’s electric super wagon is quicker than the Audi RS6 Avant Performance and BMW M5 Touring—but by how much?By Dan EdmundsPublished: Oct 20, 2025Save Article

View PhotosCar and Driver

• Porsche’s Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo gets to 60 mph in a mere 2.2 seconds and covers the quarter-mile in 9.8 seconds at 143 mph, making it the quickest wagon ever.
• The BMW M5 Touring trails well behind in second place with a 60-mph run of 3.1 seconds, and it took 11.0 seconds at 129 mph to cover the quarter-mile.
• Audi’s RS6 Avant Performance is the best at braking, with a stunning stop of just 140 feet from 70 mph and 304 feet from 100 mph.

Welcome to Car and Driver’s Testing Hub, where we zoom in on the test numbers. We’ve been pushing vehicles to their limits since 1956 to provide objective data to bolster our subjective impressions (you can see how we test here).

All of the German brands are still very interested in wagons, and they all make go-fast versions of their longroofed variants. Germany’s premium brands—Audi, BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche—all bring heavy metal to the party. For the first time in years, all of them are available on our shores at the same time—and one of them is the quickest wagon we’ve ever tested.

Meet the Contestants

Audi’s RS6 Avant Performance packs an angry twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 that’s good for 621 horsepower, and it tips the scales at 4857 pounds. The BMW M5 Touring is a meaty plug-in hybrid that weighs a portly 5481 pounds but makes a combined 717 hp from a twin-turbo 4.4-liter V-8 backed by an electric motor and a 14.8 kWh battery. The Mercedes-AMG E53 wagon is a plug-in hybrid that we haven’t yet tested, but with only 604 hp combined, it’s significantly weaker than the M5 Touring and won’t be a factor. That leaves Porsche’s electric Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo, which makes 938 horsepower from a pair of electric motors fed by a 97-kWh battery. Its weight is somewhere between the other two at 5272 pounds.

Read Our ReviewMichael Simari|Car and Driver

Read Our ReviewJames Lipman|Car and Driver

As quick as the Porsche Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo is, it’s not as quick as the sedan’s 1.9 seconds. And it won’t be, precisely because of a couple of changes made to the Cross Turismo that imbue it with a certain level of dirt-road performance. Its air suspension is set higher for a smidge of extra clearance, and it features a Gravel mode that can raise it a further 10 mm. Selecting this mode also sets a whole bunch of parameters like the firmness of the suspension, the thresholds for traction and stability control, and configures the torque management system so you’ll get the best performance on loose surfaces.

Point is, Porsche’s engineering team found it inappropriate to develop a super gummy tire for it, such as the Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS that is optional on the Taycan Turbo GT sedan and standard on the related Weissach. Instead, the top tire you can fit onto the Cross Turismo is the Pirelli P Zero PZ4; a good tire, but certainly not a great tire when compared with the Trofeo.

View PhotosJames Lipman|Car and Driver

The Taycan Takes the Crown

Having said all that, the Porsche’s electric station wagon still destroys its gasoline and plug-in hybrid counterparts. The Taycan rockets to 60 mph in just 2.2 seconds, and that leaves the BMW and Audi standing at 3.1 and 3.2 seconds, respectively. It’s even more stark at 100 mph, as the Porsche gets there in 4.9 seconds, while the BMW needs 6.9 seconds and the Audi requires a full 7.8 seconds. In the quarter-mile, the Taycan once again takes the lead and runs away with it by laying down a run of 9.8 seconds at 143 mph. The best the M5 can do in response is 11.0 seconds at 129 mph; the RS6 can manage just 11.5 seconds and 121 mph. If you take it out to 150 mph (and why wouldn’t you?), the Porsche laughably destroys the others with a 10.9-second run. You’ll wait quite a while for the others, as it takes 15.6 seconds for the BMW and a full 19.2 seconds for the Audi.

View PhotosJames Lipman|Car and Driver

Laterally speaking, the Taycan once again takes it, but this time not by very much. The BMW is a distant third with a score of 0.92 g on its Hankook Ventus S1 Evo Z tires, but the others are neck and neck. The RS6 Avant Performance beats the BMW handily with a 1.0-g lap of the skidpad on its Continental SportContact 7 meats, but the Cross Turismo takes that up to 1.02 g on its Pirelli PZ4s.

Braking is a different story. Here, the BMW and Porsche are in a virtual tie for second, with 70-mph braking going to the Bimmer (154 to 155 feet), while the Porsche takes 100 mph honors (310 to 313 feet). Meanwhile, the much lighter Audi destroys them both with repeated 70-mph stops of just 140 feet. The 100-mph result is still better than the others, at 304 feet, but we might’ve expected something more, as 100-mph stops are usually closer to double the 70-mph figure. As it was, our test pilot noticed an odd relaxing of brake pressure and cessation of ABS intervention in all of the Audi’s 100-mph stops as speed dropped below 40 mph. Curious.

• SHOP USED CARS
• Research Cars
• Expert Reviews
• WHAT’S MY CAR WORTH?
• Expert-Tested Gear
• News + Stories

1. Home
2. News

2026 Ford Mustang Mach-E California Special Celebrates the Golden State

For an extra $2495, your Mach-E GT can have uniquely styled throwback graphics and a blue interior.By Eric StaffordPublished: Oct 20, 2025Save Article

Ford

• The 2026 Ford Mustang Mach-E is adding a California Special package, a throwback to an option that dates back to the 1960s Mustang.
• The electric SUV’s exterior features distinctive Rave Blue accents, and its interior has Navy Pier upholstery.
• The California Special package is a $2495 option on the 2026 Mach-E GT, and it’ll be available to order on October 22.

Back in the ’60s, the Ford Mustang was so popular in California that the automaker wanted to celebrate its dealers in the Golden State. That led to the creation of the California Special package, which was first available on the 1968 Mustang. Now, Ford is giving the same treatment to the 2026 Mustang Mach-E.

Whereas the OG California Special featured black and red exterior accents, Ford has developed a new color called Rave Blue, which has already debuted on the gas-fed Mustang GT/CS. On the electric Mach-E, the blue accents appear on the SUV’s mostly black hood decal as well as on the outline of the rear GT badge, on the grille’s illuminated Mustang logo, and on the rim of the wheels. Those 20-inchers also feature black aero covers.Ford

The only way to unlock the California Special package is to opt for the Mach-E’s more powerful GT model. It features a 480-hp dual-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain; the standard version packs 680 pound-feet of torque, but the Performance variant features 700 pound-feet and other upgrades. The EPA estimates the GT has 280 miles of driving range.

Inside, the Mustang Mach-E GT/CS has sporty seats wrapped with Navy Pier upholstery, which is trimmed with a silver stripe and a reflective blue element. The Navy Pier material also covers the center console and steering wheel. The floor mats mimic the seats with their blue and silver stitching.Ford

The 2026 Ford Mustang Mach-E will be available to order later this week on October 22. While Ford hasn’t yet released pricing for the entire lineup, the California Special package will add $2495 to the cost of the Mach-E GT. The first deliveries are expected to start in the first quarter of next year.

This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

https://riddler.hearstgames.com/dist/polls.iframe.html?id=c89a8985-e6a8-405d-870c-4bd98d4c0692_9e4b3625c23a18&type=text&question=Which%20California%20Special%20do%20you%20prefer%3F&answer1=The%20regular%20Mustang.&answer2=The%20Mustang%20Mach-E.&siteId=8a208619-6e7d-4fab-9fa9-5cf45178bfcb&adCategory=undefined&section=News&subsection=undefined&editor=undefined&adsfree=false&brand=caranddriver&authors=undefined&site=caranddriver&stylesheet=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.caranddriver.com%2F_assets%2Fdesign-tokens%2Fcaranddriver%2Fstatic%2Fpolls%2Fpolls.css&marketingpolls=true

Related Stories