Waymo robot taxi hits child near Santa Monica elementary school

According to the company, a Waymo robot taxi hit a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica on January 23. Waymo told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that the child, whose age and identity are not currently being released, suffered minor injuries.

NHTSA has begun an investigation into the accident, and Waymo said in a blog post that it will “fully cooperate with NHTSA throughout the process.”

Waymo said its robot taxi crashed into a child at about 6 mph after “suddenly braking” from about 27 mph. The young pedestrian “abruptly entered the roadway from behind a tall SUV and directly into the path of our vehicle,” the company said in a blog post. Waymo said its vehicles “detected people as soon as they emerged from behind a stopped vehicle.”

“After the contact, the pedestrian immediately got up and walked to the sidewalk, where we called 911. The vehicle remained stopped, moved to the side of the road, and remained there until law enforcement cleared the vehicle to leave the scene,” Waymo wrote in the post.

News of the accident comes as Waymo faces a double investigation into robotaxis that illegally pass school buses. NHTSA began investigating the issue in October, shortly after the first reports of incidents in Atlanta, Georgia, and the National Transportation Safety Board launched its own investigation last week after about 20 incidents were reported in Austin, Texas.

NHTSA said the accident occurred “within two blocks” of the elementary school “during normal school hours.” “Other children, a crossing guard and several double-parked vehicles were in the vicinity,” the safety regulator said.

NHTSA’s Office of Deficiency Investigations is investigating “whether the Waymo AV exercised reasonable care given its proximity to an elementary school, particularly during school closing hours, and the presence of young pedestrians and other potentially vulnerable road users.”

Waymo said in a blog post that its “peer review model” shows that “a perfectly alert human driver in the same circumstances would have made contact with the pedestrian at approximately 14 mph.” The company has not released any specific analysis regarding this crash.