A young pedestrian was struck by a Waymo robotaxi near a school, sparking an investigation

Waymo Self-driving vehicle A child was struck by a pedestrian’s car near an elementary school in Santa Monica, California, on Friday. Waymo addressed the incident on Wednesday Blog postNoting that 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. “We will cooperate fully with them throughout the process,” Waymo added.

Waymo, owned by Alphabet, operates robotaxi service throughout the Los Angeles area as well as… A handful of other cities“He suddenly entered the road from behind a long SUV and moved directly into the path of our car,” says a pedestrian. The company says its technology immediately detected the child as he emerged from behind the parked car, and the robot “braked hard, reducing speed from approximately 17 mph to less than 6 mph before making contact.”

The pedestrian then got up and walked to the sidewalk, and Waymo called 911. The robotaxi pulled to the side of the road to await law enforcement, who eventually allowed the vehicle to leave, according to Waymo. There was no safety operator in the car, as Waymo drives fully autonomously in the Los Angeles area.

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“This event demonstrates the critical value of our safety systems,” Waymo said in its blog post. “We are committed to improving road safety where we operate while continuing our mission to be the world’s most trusted driver.”

A NHTSA filing (PDF) The investigation notes that the incident occurred “during normal school outage hours,” and that “there were other children, a crossing guard, and several parked vehicles in the vicinity.” Waymo reported that 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 out-of-school hours. This includes ensuring that the car adheres to posted speed limits. The department will also look at how Waymo responded after the incident.

Waymo has had its fair share of high-profile incidents as it expands its services to more areas. This includes its vehicles Failure to navigate in construction zonesbesides Roads blocked during a recent power outage In San Francisco. The company made international headlines after one of its robotaxis Hit and kill the beloved neighborhood cat in San Francisco in October, sparking animosity among many concerned about the rise of self-driving technology.

In the face of scrutiny, Waymo often points this out Safety impact reportwhich reports that over 71 million autonomous miles driven through March 2025, its Waymo Driver technology experienced 88% fewer crashes resulting in serious injury or worse, and 78% fewer crashes resulting in injury, compared to “an average human driver traveling the same distance in our operating cities.” It also indicates a decrease in the number of collisions resulting in injuries to pedestrians (93%), cyclists (81%), and motorcyclists (86%).

“We have,” Waymo said in its blog post on Wednesday Peer review model “It shows that a fully attentive human driver in the same situation would have contacted the pedestrian at approximately 14 mph.”