Incident in Santa Monica school zone reopens debate on 100% autonomous vehicles and adds to investigations into sudden stops and bus blockades
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a formal investigation against Waymo after one of its self-driving vehicles ran over a child in Santa Monica, California. The incident, which occurred on January 23 in the vicinity of Grant Elementary School, prompted the intervention of the agency’s Office of Defect Investigation, which is now evaluating whether the company’s technology is capable of ensuring safety in high-risk school zones.
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The collision occurred during the hours of entry and exit of students, on a road marked by the typical complexity of school areas: heavy traffic, vehicles stopped in double file and the presence of traffic guards. According to official records, the child suddenly exited from behind a large SUV, entering the trajectory of the Waymo car, which operated without a safety driver.
The vehicle’s fifth-generation software detected the pedestrian and applied the brakes sharply. Telemetry points to a speed reduction from 27 km/h to less than 10 km/h at the time of impact. Despite the shock, the victim suffered only minor injuries, managed to walk to the sidewalk and was released after paramedical care at the scene.
In its defense, Waymo argues that its sensors prevented a greater tragedy. Simulation models released by the company indicate that an attentive human driver, with a standard reaction time, would have hit the child at about 22 km/h — more than twice the speed recorded by the autonomous system.
The case in Santa Monica is not isolated and aggravates the scrutiny on the Alphabet subsidiary. The NHTSA investigation adds to other recent lawsuits, including reviews into the erratic behavior of robo-taxis near school buses in Austin and an incident in Phoenix where a vehicle ran over a teenager’s foot.
In addition to the technical issues, Waymo faces a local political battle. The company is locked in a legal dispute with the city of Santa Monica over its nighttime operations and use of parking lots. The new federal inquiry is expected to focus specifically on the ability of algorithms to predict unpredictable behavior from children, putting to the test the company’s thesis that its computers are invariably superior to human reflexes.
