A driverless Waymo robotaxi struck a child who had stepped into the street from behind an SUV during morning drop-off outside a Santa Monica elementary school, resulting in minor injuries.
- Date of incident
- 2026-01-23
- Location
- Santa Monica, California, USA
- Sources
- 8
Established by press reporting. No regulator or court document is linked to this case yet.
This event matches the crash Waymo LLC reported to NHTSA under the Standing General Order as report 30270-13606 (2026-01, Santa Monica, CA, crash with suv, property damage. no injured reported). Matched by operator, month, state, city, counterpart and severity; how linking works.
How the event developed
- 2026-01-29Report
Waymo robotaxi hit a child at a school drop-off location, triggering a federal safety inquiry.
washingtonpost.com - 2026-01-29Investigation
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a federal safety investigation into the January 23 incident in which a Waymo robotaxi struck a child near Grant Elementary School in Santa Monica, according to the Los Angeles Times.
latimes.com
Every claim above traces to one of these
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- washingtonpost.comWaymo robotaxi hit a child at a school drop-off location, triggering a federal safety inquiry.2026-01-29copy 2026-10-19tier 1
- techcrunch.comWaymo robotaxi struck a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica.2026-01-29copy 2026-10-31tier 2
- techbuzz.aiA Waymo robotaxi struck a child near a school in Santa Monica.2026-01-29copy 2026-10-23tier 2
- latimes.comWaymo under scrutiny after hitting child near Santa Monica elementary school - Los Angeles Times2026-01-29copy 2026-10-31tier 1
- kqed.orgA driverless Waymo robotaxi struck a child who had stepped into the street from behind an SUV during morning drop-off outside a Santa Monica elementary school, resulting in minor injuries.2026-01-30copy 2026-10-29tier 2
- wng.orgA Waymo robotaxi struck a child who ran across the street from behind a double-parked SUV near an elementary school in Santa Monica, California, resulting in minor injuries to the child.2026-01-30copy 2026-10-28tier 2
- hothardware.comA Waymo robotaxi struck a child who darted from behind a parked SUV in a school zone near Grant Elementary School in Santa Monica, California, causing minor injuries and triggering a federal NHTSA investigation.2026-01-30copy 2026-10-30tier 2
- inc.comA fully autonomous Waymo vehicle struck a child who ran into the street from behind a double-parked SUV near an elementary school in Santa Monica, California, causing minor injuries.2026-01-31copy 2026-10-21tier 2
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