A Waymo self-driving taxi has been involved in another safety incident, this time striking a child near an elementary school in California. The autonomous vehicle company confirmed that one of its robotaxis "made contact with a young pedestrian" in Santa Monica last Friday, prompting an investigation by federal regulators.
Incident Details and Investigation
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has opened an investigation into the matter, the child was hit after running across the street from behind a double-parked SUV toward an elementary school within two blocks. The incident occurred during normal school drop-off hours when other children and a crossing guard were present at the location.
Waymo stated in its official announcement that the child ran "directly into our vehicle's path" and that its "technology immediately detected the individual as soon as they began to emerge from behind the stopped vehicle." The company reported that the robotaxi, which was traveling at approximately 17 miles per hour, braked hard and was moving under 6 miles per hour at the moment of impact.
Company Response and Safety Claims
Waymo emphasized that if a "fully attentive" human driver had been behind the wheel, they would have struck the child at about 14 miles per hour. "This significant reduction in impact speed and severity is a demonstration of the material safety benefit of the Waymo Driver," the company asserted in its statement.
The NHTSA revealed that Waymo informed the agency the child sustained "minor injuries" from the collision. Waymo further detailed that the child "stood up immediately" and "walked to the sidewalk" following the crash. The company called emergency services, and its autonomous vehicle remained at the side of the road until police "cleared the vehicle to leave the scene."
"We remain committed to improving road safety where we operate as we continue on our mission to be the world's most trusted driver," Waymo declared in its official response to the incident.
Pattern of Safety Concerns
This latest incident follows recent reports of Waymo vehicles allegedly violating school bus safety protocols in other locations. Earlier this month, news outlet KXAN reported that Waymo cars in Austin were still illegally passing school buses despite the company claiming its software had been updated to address this issue.
The outlet had previously reported in early December that Waymo vehicles were filmed passing Austin Independent School District buses while their stop arms and red lights were activated 19 times during this school year. The school district confirmed to The Independent on January 14 that there were a total of 24 alleged violations by Waymo autonomous vehicles.
Company's Safety Statistics
A Waymo spokesperson responded to these allegations by stating, "Our vehicles have 12x fewer crashes involving injuries to pedestrians compared to human benchmarks and we're invested in demonstrating exceptional driving performance around school bus interactions that exceeds human-driven vehicles."
The combination of these incidents raises important questions about the safety protocols and technological capabilities of autonomous vehicles in complex urban environments, particularly around schools and during peak pedestrian activity times.
