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A Waymo vehicle struck a child on Friday, January 23. According to the NHTSA, the incident occurred within two blocks of a Santa Monica, CA elementary school during normal school drop off hours and that there were other children, a crossing guard, and several double-parked vehicles were in the vicinity. The child ran across the street from behind a double parked SUV towards the school and was struck by the Waymo AV. Waymo reported that the child sustained minor injuries.
At the time of the incident, the Waymo AV was operated by Waymo’s 5th Generation Automated Driving System (ADS). No safety operator was present in the vehicle.
Waymo released a statement:
"At Waymo, we are committed to improving road safety, both for our riders and all those with whom we share the road. Part of that commitment is being transparent when incidents occur, which is why we are sharing details regarding an event in Santa Monica, California, on Friday, January 23, where one of our vehicles made contact with a young pedestrian. Following the event, we voluntarily contacted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that same day. NHTSA has indicated to us that they intend to open an investigation into this incident, and we will cooperate fully with them throughout the process.
The event occurred when the pedestrian suddenly entered the roadway from behind a tall SUV, moving directly into our vehicle's path. Our technology immediately detected the individual as soon as they began to emerge from behind the stopped vehicle. The Waymo Driver braked hard, reducing speed from approximately 17 mph to under 6 mph before contact was made.
To put this in perspective, our peer-reviewed model shows that a fully attentive human driver in this same situation would have made contact with the pedestrian at approximately 14 mph. This significant reduction in impact speed and severity is a demonstration of the material safety benefit of the Waymo Driver.
Following contact, the pedestrian stood up immediately, walked to the sidewalk, and we called 911. The vehicle remained stopped, moved to the side of the road, and stayed there until law enforcement cleared the vehicle to leave the scene.
This event demonstrates the critical value of our safety systems. 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 parent posted this statement online:
"Happened in my kids school, grant elementary. From everything I heard, it’s the kids/parents fault for sure. They let the child out on the opposite side of the street ad the kids ran behind a car to cross the street. There is a crossings guard just next to him but they still ran. I hope they will charge the parents for negligence. I’m not here to protect a corporation but I believe that if it was a human driver the kid would had it worse."
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