Waymo submits documents in NHTSA's child-collision probe

Waymo has submitted documents to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as part of the regulator’s investigation into a January crash in which one of its robotaxis struck a child at low speed. An initial batch was posted to NHTSA’s website Friday morning after TechCrunch inquired about them earlier in the week; the agency said it is still reviewing other responses and will publish them in the investigation file once complete. The responses posted so far are entirely redacted on confidentiality grounds, citing sensitive business information, but their posting signals the investigation is progressing after Waymo was granted extra time to prepare them. NHTSA had asked for a wide range of information, including how Waymo sets speed limits in school zones, any complaints the company has received about its robotaxis’ behavior around schools, and documentation about its software.

The crash occurred on January 23 in Santa Monica, California, when a Waymo Jaguar I-Pace robotaxi traveling near a school encountered a nine-year-old girl who stepped into the street. The vehicle was traveling 17 miles per hour but braked, reducing its speed to 6 miles per hour before colliding with the child near its front-right headlight assembly, according to a preliminary report the National Transportation Safety Board released in March. The child fell, then walked to the curb and reported minor injuries; she did not need medical transport. The NTSB’s investigation is separate from NHTSA’s and typically concludes with a final, more detailed report about a year after it opens.

NHTSA opened its probe a week after the crash and sent Waymo 12 questions, some with sub-questions, on March 23. Waymo’s initial deadline was May 8, but documents posted Friday show the company requested an extension in a letter dated May 1, in which Matthew Schwall, Waymo’s senior director of safety, wrote: “Our mutual goal is for Waymo to provide relevant information that facilitates ODI’s investigation, while avoiding extraordinary production and review burdens for Waymo and NHTSA ODI that would otherwise not benefit the agency’s investigation.” Waymo also asked NHTSA to clarify some of its questions, then provided partial responses in a second letter dated July 8; NHTSA granted the company more time to answer 10 of the 12 questions. Waymo told TechCrunch on Thursday that it has now completed its submissions.

Why it matters

A redacted paper trail is still a paper trail — as robotaxis expand into more residential and school-zone driving, how regulators handle a child-injury investigation, and how much of it becomes public, will shape what evidence future safety probes can actually rely on.