A Waymo robotaxi struck a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica on January 23, marking the latest safety incident to plague Google's autonomous vehicle unit. The child, whose age hasn't been disclosed, sustained minor injuries after stepping into the road from behind a parked SUV, according to Waymo's incident report. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a formal investigation, adding to mounting regulatory scrutiny of the company's self-driving operations.
Waymo is facing fresh regulatory scrutiny after one of its autonomous vehicles struck a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica, intensifying the safety debate around driverless cars operating in residential neighborhoods.
The incident occurred on January 23 when a young pedestrian stepped into the roadway from behind a tall SUV, moving directly into the robotaxi's path. The vehicle detected the child and braked hard from approximately 17 miles per hour, but still made contact at 6 mph, according to Waymo's disclosure. The company said its sensors "immediately detected the individual as soon as they began to emerge from behind the stopped vehicle."
The child stood up immediately after the collision, walked to the sidewalk, and the robotaxi called 911, Waymo said. The vehicle remained stopped and moved to the side of the road until law enforcement cleared it to leave the scene. While the child's exact age hasn't been released, Waymo reported that injuries were minor.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into the crash within days. "We will cooperate fully with them throughout the process," Waymo stated in its blog post. It's a familiar position for the Alphabet-owned company, which now finds itself juggling three separate federal safety investigations.
The timing couldn't be worse for Waymo. The company is already fighting fires on two other fronts - both involving schools. NHTSA after a Waymo robotaxi illegally passed a stopped school bus in Atlanta, Georgia. Last week, the National Transportation Safety Board opened its own after approximately 20 similar incidents were reported in Austin, Texas.
