What happened

A driverless Waymo robotaxi hit a child who had run from behind a double-parked SUV into a street outside a school in Santa Monica, California. The child suffered minor injuries and able to walk back to the pavement.

According to authorities, other children, a crossing guard, and several double-parked vehicles were also in the vicinity. 

The incident resulted in an investigation by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) into whether the robotaxi “exercised appropriate caution given, among other things, its proximity to the elementary school during drop off hours, and the presence of young pedestrians and other potential vulnerable road users.” 

It also said it would examine Waymo’s “intended behavior in school zones and neighboring areas, especially during normal school pick up/drop off times, including but not limited to its adherence to posted speed limits.” 

Waymo reported the incident voluntarily and used the data to argue that its system performed better than a human would have (claiming a human would have hit the child at 14 mph). 

However, critics and school districts point to a lack of corporate accountability, noting that Waymo previously refused requests from school districts in Austin and Atlanta to halt operations during bell times despite repeated reports of vehicles illegally passing stopped school buses. 

Why it happened

Waymo said the self-driving vehicle immediately detected the child as they emerged from behind the stopped vehicle, braking hard and reducing speed from approximately 17 mph to under 6 mph before contact was made.