Waymo’s sensor stack on high of a Waymo autonomous automobile. | Supply: Waymo
The Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration, or NHTSA, at this time mentioned it’s opening an investigation into Waymo LLC, a self-driving automobile developer and subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. The company is investigating an incident during which a Waymo automobile struck a toddler close to an elementary college in Santa Monica, Calif., final week.
In keeping with the NHTSA, on Jan. 23, a toddler ran throughout the road from behind a double-parked SUV towards an elementary college. When the kid emerged from behind the SUV, a Waymo autonomous automobile (AV) struck the kid.
The accident occurred throughout regular college drop-off hours, mentioned the NHTSA. It added that different kids, a crossing guard, and a number of other double-parked autos had been within the neighborhood.
Waymo claimed that its know-how detected the kid as quickly as she emerged from behind the parked autos. The corporate mentioned its automobile braked laborious, lowering velocity from roughly 17 mph to beneath 6 mph (27.3 to 9.6 kph) earlier than contact was made.
After the AV struck the kid, Waymo mentioned the kid stood up instantly and walked to the sidewalk. The corporate known as 911, and the automobile moved to the facet of the highway to attend for regulation enforcement to reach. Waymo additionally famous that it voluntarily contacted the NHTSA on the identical day and that it plans to totally cooperate with the investigation. It mentioned the kid sustained minor accidents.
As well as, Waymo asserted that its peer-reviewed research confirmed {that a} totally attentive human driver would have made contact with the pedestrian at roughly 14 mph (22.5 kph). That is tough to confirm, as the corporate has not launched a video of the incident.
Contained in the NHTSA investigation, Waymo’s college bus troubles
Screenshot from a video capturing one of many incidents of a Waymo robotaxi illegally passing a stopped college bus. | Credit score: Austin ISD
The NHTSA’s Workplace of Defects Investigation (ODI) has opened a preliminary analysis into whether or not the automated driving system (ADS) exercised acceptable warning given its proximity to the elementary college throughout drop-off hours.
ODI mentioned it is going to doubtless look at the ADS’s supposed conduct at school zones and neighboring areas, particularly throughout regular college choose up/drop off instances, together with however not restricted to its adherence to posted velocity limits. The workplace can even examine Waymo’s post-impact response.
However this isn’t the primary drawback Waymo has had when making an attempt to navigate college drop-offs. In December, Waymo introduced that it could file a voluntary software program recall in response to its robotaxis illegally passing stopped college buses in quite a lot of incidents throughout completely different states.
In September, WXIA-TV in Atlanta aired a video exhibiting a Waymo illegally passing a stopped college bus. A month later, the NHTSA opened an investigation into Waymo round “site visitors security violations referring to stopping when encountering a faculty bus, notably when the bus is boarding or offboarding college students.”
Residents and college officers noticed comparable issues in Austin, Texas. The Austin Impartial Faculty District detailed 19 completely different cases of a Waymo robotaxi “illegally and dangerously” passing Austin college buses because the 2025-2026 college 12 months in a letter it despatched to the NHTSA.
The varsity district requested that Waymo stop operations through the instances college buses could be loading and unloading.
Trying again at Waymo’s security file
This additionally isn’t the primary time a Waymo automobile has struck an individual. In February 2024, a Waymo automobile ran right into a bicyclist in Potrero Hill in San Francisco. The bicycle owner turned left in entrance of the automobile because it entered the intersection.
The Waymo automobile was unable to detect the bicyclist earlier as a result of it was following carefully behind a big truck that handed by way of the intersection instantly earlier than the automobile began to undergo.
In keeping with NHTSA, Waymo’s robotaxis surpassed 100 million miles of driving in July 2025, and the corporate continues to build up 2 million miles every week. The corporate at the moment operates autonomous ride-hailing providers in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco. Within the U.S., Waymo mentioned its robotaxis have already pushed greater than 10 million paid rides.
Waymo final issued a voluntary recall in Might 2025, when it recalled 1,212 robotaxis to handle dangers of collisions with chains, gates, and different roadway boundaries. The corporate mentioned it resolved the underlying software program problem by way of a November 2024 replace that decreased the probability of most of these occasions.
Waymo will probably be beneath rising security scrutiny because it continues to increase its AV service. It intends to increase or launch providers in Nashville, Las Vegas, San Diego, Detroit, Washington D.C., Miami, Dallas, Seattle, Houston, Orlando, San Antonio, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Denver within the coming years.
As well as, the corporate is planning to deliver its know-how abroad. Waymo mentioned it desires to deploy in London in 2026, and it has already deployed take a look at autos in Tokyo to study native site visitors patterns.
