A Waymo self-driving vehicle hit a child pedestrian near an elementary school in Santa Monica, California, on Friday. Waymo addressed the incident in a Wednesday blog post, noting it "voluntarily contacted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that same day."
NHTSA told Waymo it plans to investigate the incident, according to the blog post. Waymo added, "we will cooperate fully with them throughout the process."
Alphabet-owned Waymo, which operates a robotaxi service around the Los Angeles area as well as a handful of other cities, says the pedestrian "suddenly entered the roadway from behind a tall SUV, moving directly into our vehicle's path." The company says its technology immediately detected the child as they came out from behind the stopped vehicle, and the robotaxi "braked hard, reducing speed from approximately 17 mph to under 6 mph before contact was made."
Afterwards, the pedestrian got up and walked to the sidewalk, and Waymo called 911. The robotaxi pulled to the side of the road to await law enforcement, which eventually cleared the vehicle to leave, according to Waymo. There was no safety operator in the vehicle, as Waymo drives fully autonomously in the LA area.
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"This event demonstrates the critical value of our safety systems," Waymo said in its blog post. "We remain committed to improving road safety where we operate as we continue on our mission to be the world's most trusted driver."
A NHTSA filing (PDF) for the investigation notes that the incident happened "during normal school drop-off hours," and that "there were other children, a crossing guard and several double-parked vehicles in the vicinity." Waymo reported the child "sustained minor injuries."
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation is looking into whether the Waymo robotaxi was operating with the necessary degree of caution, given how close it was to an elementary school during school drop-off hours. That includes ensuring the vehicle abided by the posted speed limits. The division will also look into how Waymo responded after the incident.
Waymo has had its fair share of high-profile incidents as it expands its service to more areas. That includes its vehicles failing to navigate construction zones, as well as blocking roads during a recent power outage in San Francisco. The company made international headlines after one of its robotaxis hit and killed a beloved neighborhood cat in San Francisco in October, stirring up animosity among many who are wary of the rise of self-driving technology.
In the face of scrutiny, Waymo often points to its Safety Impact report, which notes that over the course of 71 million autonomous miles driven through March 2025, its Waymo Driver technology had 88% fewer crashes leading to serious injuries or worse and 78% fewer injury-causing crashes, compared with "an average human driver over the same distance in our operating cities." It also reports fewer crashes with injuries to pedestrians (93%), cyclists (81%) and motorcyclists (86%).
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