A Waymo robotaxi struck a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica, California, on January 23rd, causing minor injuries and prompting the National Highway Traffic Safety administration to open an investigation.
The incident occurred during normal school drop off hours, with other children, a crossing guard, and several double-parked vehicles in the vicinity, NHTSA said. The child ran across the street from behind a double-parked SUV toward the school and was struck by the Waymo vehicle.
In a blog post, Waymo said its vehicle was traveling at 17mph when its autonomous system detected the child and then “braked hard,” reducing its speed to 6mph before “contact was made.” The child “stood up immediately, walked to the sidewalk,” and Waymo said it called 911. “The vehicle moved to the side of the road, and stayed there until law enforcement cleared the vehicle to leave the scene,” it said.
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation said it would examine whether “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.” The office also will look into 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 claims that its autonomous system’s reaction likely prevented more serious injuries to the child. Citing its own model, it said that a “fully attentive human driver in the 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.”
The incident comes after the National Transportation Safety Board said it would open its own investigation into incidents of Waymo robotaxis driving past school buses engaged in student pickups and drop-offs in Austin, Texas. Waymo issued a safety recall in December 2025 that was meant to address this issue, but additional incidents were subsequently reported.
