{"id":"4e4d1778-97b6-4db6-a8a5-fa0d9817a06b","slug":"waymo-child-struck-nhtsa-investigation-2026-01","kind":"regulatory_action","headline":"NHTSA opens preliminary investigation after Waymo robotaxi strikes child near Santa Monica elementary school","summary":"NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation (PE26001) after a Waymo autonomous vehicle struck a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica, California on January 23, 2026. The child ran across the street from behind a double-parked SUV during school drop-off hours and was struck by the Waymo AV, sustaining minor injuries. NTSB is also investigating. Waymo says the vehicle detected the child and braked from 17 mph to under 6 mph before contact.","occurredAt":"2026-01-29T00:00:00.000Z","reviewStatus":"unreviewed","modelId":null,"deploymentId":null,"companyId":"2128addc-20c8-4c31-aef5-be5ada97aede","aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"none","reviewNote":null,"severity":"serious","rootCauseCategory":null,"rootCauseDetail":null,"affectedUnitsCount":null,"affectedUnitsBasis":null,"remediationStatus":null,"regulatoryAction":"inquiry_opened","regulatoryBody":"NHTSA","propertyDamageEstimateUsd":null,"damageEstimateBasis":null,"bodilyInjurySeverity":null,"fatalityCount":null,"lossCostClass":null,"sourceQualityTier":null,"oshaRecordable":null,"oshaCaseNumber":null,"rootCauseDisclosed":null,"publicDisclosureDate":null,"insuranceClaimPublic":null,"formFactor":null,"latitude":null,"longitude":null,"autonomyClass":null,"legalOutcomeClass":"unknown","createdAt":"2026-07-22T15:43:50.780Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-22T15:43:50.780Z","model":null,"deployment":null,"company":{"id":"2128addc-20c8-4c31-aef5-be5ada97aede","name":"Waymo","slug":"waymo","description":"Waymo is Alphabet's autonomous driving subsidiary. It operates the Waymo One robotaxi service in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, and Miami, and runs Waymo Via for autonomous trucking. Spun out of Google's self-driving car project as a standalone Alphabet subsidiary in December 2016.","status":"subsidiary","founded":2009,"hq":"Mountain View, CA","fundingTotal":"27000000000","type":"both","reviewStatus":"reviewed","lifecycleState":"active","supersededByCompanyId":null,"sources":[{"url":"https://waymo.com","label":"Waymo — Company website"},{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waymo","label":"Wikipedia — Waymo (history, operations, ownership)"}],"keyFacts":[{"label":"Valuation","value":"$126B post-money (Feb 2026 Series D)"},{"label":"Funding raised","value":"~$27B lifetime ($16B Series D, Feb 2026, largest AV round ever)"},{"label":"Weekly rides","value":"~500,000 paid/week (targeting 1M by end-2026)"},{"label":"Ride volume","value":"15M in 2025; 20M+ lifetime"},{"label":"Autonomous miles","value":"127M+ fully autonomous"},{"label":"Safety claim (Waymo)","value":"90% fewer serious-injury crashes vs. humans (company-stated)"},{"label":"Operating markets","value":"~11 US metros (Waymo One)"},{"label":"Vehicle","value":"Jaguar I-PACE, 6th-gen Waymo Driver"},{"label":"Recent recalls","value":"School-bus passing; ~3,800-vehicle San Antonio flood recall"},{"label":"Active investigations","value":"NHTSA (Santa Monica child injury); NTSB (TX school-bus)"},{"label":"wikidata","value":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15330"},{"label":"wikipedia","value":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waymo"},{"label":"Hero image candidate","value":"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Waymo_self-driving_car_front_view.gk.jpg (source: Wikimedia Commons, license: CC BY-SA 4.0, Quality image)"},{"label":"Miami depot 1","value":"Operational depot in Wynwood District, Miami (verified, field-inspected 2026)"},{"label":"Miami depot 2","value":"Future depot adjacent to Miami International Airport (under preparation, 2026)"},{"label":"Austin depot","value":"Operations facility on Stassney near Burleson Rd, south of Ben White, Austin TX"},{"label":"Mesa manufacturing hub","value":"Magna retrofits Jaguar I-PACE vehicles for Waymo fleet in Mesa, AZ"}],"aliases":["Waymo LLC","Waymo One","Google Self-Driving Car Project","Waymo Driver","Alphabet Waymo","Google Waymo","Google self-driving car"],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"atsProvider":"greenhouse","atsSlug":"waymo","factoryLocations":null,"manufacturingCapacity":null,"orgType":null,"burnSignal":null,"litigationEvents":null,"insurancePostureDisclosed":null,"unitEconomicsDisclosed":null,"tickerSymbol":null,"stockExchange":null,"secCik":null,"revenueUsd":null,"revenueBasis":null,"revenueAsOf":null,"employeeCount":null,"employeeCountBasis":null,"employeeCountAsOf":null,"marketCapUsd":null,"marketCapAsOf":null,"marketCapSource":null,"createdAt":"2026-05-25T03:56:10.060Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-18T21:05:29.695Z"},"derived":{"status":"active"},"sources":[{"id":"3ebd472d-cda1-4afd-8b24-a98ead0852b4","incidentId":"4e4d1778-97b6-4db6-a8a5-fa0d9817a06b","url":"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-opens-probe-after-waymo-self-driving-vehicle-strikes-child-near-school-2026-01-29/","label":"Reuters","publishedAt":null,"notes":null,"title":null,"sourceName":"Reuters","mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-07-22T15:43:50.780Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-22T15:43:50.780Z"}],"responses":[],"statusEvents":[{"id":"87f622b0-8528-402b-8782-6ba704681bfa","incidentId":"4e4d1778-97b6-4db6-a8a5-fa0d9817a06b","status":"active","reason":null,"source":"agent:recon","effectiveAt":"2026-07-22T15:43:51.925Z","createdAt":"2026-07-22T15:43:51.925Z"}],"jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/waymo-child-struck-nhtsa-investigation-2026-01","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/waymo-child-struck-nhtsa-investigation-2026-01","headline":"NHTSA opens preliminary investigation after Waymo robotaxi strikes child near Santa Monica elementary school","description":"NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation (PE26001) after a Waymo autonomous vehicle struck a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica, California on January 23, 2026. The child ran across the street from behind a double-parked SUV during school drop-off hours and was struck by the Waymo AV, sustaining minor injuries. NTSB is also investigating. Waymo says the vehicle detected the child and braked from 17 mph to under 6 mph before contact.","identifier":"4e4d1778-97b6-4db6-a8a5-fa0d9817a06b","datePublished":"2026-01-29T00:00:00.000Z","articleSection":"regulatory action","publisher":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"},"author":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"}},"framework_metadata":{"framework_schema_version":"0.1.0","verification_status":"unreviewed","maturity_stage":null,"lifecycle_state":null,"architectural_position":{"cohort":null,"sub_cohorts":[]},"within_cohort_verified_vs_claimed_pair":null,"cap_flags":[],"verification_depth":{"sources_count":1,"primary_source_types":["secondary-established-publication"]}}}