Waymo robotaxi hits schoolchild near elementary school
A schoolchild jumped into the street and was slightly injured by a robotaxi that braked immediately. US authority is investigating Waymo's behavior near schools.
An autonomous Waymo taxi in San Francisco.
An autonomous taxi from the US company Waymo has hit a schoolchild near an elementary school. According to Waymo, the child suffered minor injuries after the collision with the robotaxi. The accident occurred last Friday in Santa Monica, California, and the Alphabet subsidiary immediately informed the US traffic authority. The authority has initiated corresponding investigations and will particularly examine the behavior of the driverless Waymo taxis near schools.
Recently, a cat run over in San Francisco had drawn criticism of Waymo, but the schoolchild in Santa Monica got off more lightly than the cat killed in the accident. Waymo states that the young “pedestrian suddenly entered the roadway from behind a large SUV and walked directly into the path of our vehicle.” The robotaxi's system immediately detected the person and braked hard. The speed was reportedly “reduced from about 27 km/h to under 10 km/h before the collision occurred.”
Waymo: A human could not have braked faster
“After the contact, the pedestrian immediately got up, went to the sidewalk, and we called the police,” Waymo further states. “The vehicle stopped, pulled over to the side of the road, and remained there until the police cleared it to leave the scene.” According to Waymo, the robotaxi reacted faster than a human. Simulations have shown that even a “fully attentive human driver” would have only slowed down to about 22.5 km/h before colliding with this pedestrian.
Videos by heise
The extent of the injuries sustained by the schoolchild is not yet known, nor is their age and identity. The US traffic safety authority NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) was informed by Waymo on the day of the accident, and the robotaxi company submitted the necessary report a few days later. Waymo itself highlights this as a commitment to “transparency in handling incidents.”
US authority investigates robotaxi behavior near schools
According to NHTSA, the accident occurred “in close proximity to an elementary school in Santa Monica, California, during typical drop-off and pick-up times.” It was reported that “other children, a crossing guard, and several illegally parked vehicles” were in the vicinity. Some parents apparently parked in the second row to drop off or pick up their children.
At the time of the accident, the robotaxi was using the fifth generation of Waymo's ADS (Automated Driving System). The NHTSA will now examine whether the system “exercised due diligence given its proximity to the elementary school during drop-off and pick-up times and the presence of young pedestrians and other potentially vulnerable road users.” This includes the “behavior of the autopilot in school zones and adjacent areas.” The US traffic safety authority is cooperating with the local police department in the safety investigation of this Waymo accident, as reported by the NHTSA on X.
(fds)
