The Incident
Back in January, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) received a report of a Waymo vehicle that struck a child in a school zone. The incident occurred on January 23, 2026, and Waymo sent its required report to NHTSA on January 28, 2026.
Parents reading this can breathe a sigh of relief. Considering the nature of the accident, the child, reportedly, sustained minor injuries. No injuries would have been ideal, but this situation could’ve been much worse. Per the report, “the child ran across the street from behind a double-parked SUV towards the school and was struck by the Waymo AV.”
Opening the Investigation
With that, NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) unit will be taking a closer look at the factors that caused the accident. Given that the incident involved a child, it’s an extremely serious matter, and the ODI will see if the autonomous system acted and reacted properly at the time of said incident.
On top of that, the ODI will investigate the behavior of Waymo’s autonomous taxis in school zones and neighboring areas, especially during school pick-up and drop-off times. The Waymo vehicle involved was using the company’s 5th Generation Automated Driving System, and there was no safety driver in the taxi.
Bugs and Glitches?
With autonomous driving tech still relatively new, there will likely be a few things that still need to be ironed out. Waymo is no exception to that, and there have been a couple of incidents recorded since its operation.
There have been reports of fender benders and an instance of cars being confused in certain situations. 3,000 taxis were also recalled after it was found that some of them were failing to stop for school buses.
Statistically, these autonomous taxis are safer, but they’ve been involved in high-profile incidents that blunt their safety record. But accidents such as this should make them even safer down the line, as findings of the investigation should serve as a lesson for all involved in autonomous mobility. It’s just fortunate that the outcome in this case didn’t end in tragedy.
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