Waymo has completed its submission of documents to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in connection with a January collision between one of its robotaxis and a nine-year-old girl near a school in Santa Monica, California1,2. The first batch of Waymo's responses has appeared in the NHTSA investigation docket.
All submitted documents are sealed from public view, designated as confidential business information. The NHTSA said it is continuing to analyze other materials from Waymo and will publish them in the investigation docket once its review is complete.
The regulator's inquiry centers on Waymo's autonomous driving operations in school zones. NHTSA requested information on how Waymo's system identifies speed limits in school zones, whether the company has received complaints about robotaxi behavior near schools, and documentation regarding its software.
The collision occurred on January 23 near a school. An autonomous Jaguar I-Pace was traveling at 17 miles per hour when the girl stepped into the road. According to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the vehicle braked and slowed to six miles per hour before striking the child near its right headlight. The girl fell but walked to the side of the road on her own, reported only minor injuries, and did not require medical transport.
NHTSA opened its own investigation one week after the crash. On March 23, the agency sent Waymo 12 questions, some with additional sub-questions, with an initial response deadline of May 8. In a letter dated May 1, Waymo requested an extension and asked for clarification on some of the questions. NHTSA granted Waymo additional time to respond to 10 of the 12 questions. Waymo provided answers to some questions in a letter dated July 8. Matthew Schwall of Waymo said the company's goal was to provide relevant information supporting the investigation while avoiding an extraordinary burden of preparing and reviewing materials. Waymo told TechCrunch that it has completed its submission of materials.
The NTSB investigation is being conducted separately from the NHTSA review. The NTSB typically publishes a final, more detailed report in about 12 months.
ANALYSIS The confidential designation on all submitted documents limits independent scrutiny of Waymo's school-zone protocols at a time when the NHTSA's questions — focused on speed-limit detection, complaint history, and software documentation — indicate the regulator is probing systemic operational practices, not just the mechanics of a single crash. The extended timeline of the document exchange, stretching from March through at least July, underscores the breadth of the agency's information requests.