4 ms·

There was a story here about it hitting a child (I think) but it was determined to be much less serious than if a human driver was involved

heaney-555 2mo ago
https://medium.com/the-generator/a-waymo-vehicle-hit-a-kid-but-thats-not-the-full-story-8ea4c189c2e9 https://medium.com/the-generator/a-waymo-vehicle-hit-a-kid-b... "As the Waymo approached the double-parked SUV, a child ran out from behind the SUV and into the roadway, directly in front of the Waymo." Waymo cannae change the laws of physics. Braking distances exist for AI-driven vehicles just as much as human-driven ones.
- waterhouse 2mo ago
  And if anything, I'd expect machines to have faster reflexes than humans. The Medium article is walled off, but I found another source[1]: "The child reported minor injuries and did not require transportation to a hospital. ... Waymo said at the time that the child ran into the street from behind a double-parked SUV and that the vehicle braked hard before contact, reducing speed significantly before impact." Edit: Waymo's blog[2] says it "reduc[ed] speed from approximately 17 mph to under 6 mph before contact was made", and that "our peer-reviewed model[3] shows that a fully attentive human driver in this same situation would have made contact with the pedestrian at approximately 14 mph". [1] https://ktla.com/news/local-news/new-details-released-in-waymo-vehicle-crash-with-9-year-old-near-santa-monica-school/ https://ktla.com/news/local-news/new-details-released-in-way... [2] https://waymo.com/blog/2026/01/a-commitment-to-transparency-and-road-safety/ https://waymo.com/blog/2026/01/a-commitment-to-transparency-... [3] https://waymo.com/blog/2022/09/benchmarking-av-safety/ https://waymo.com/blog/2022/09/benchmarking-av-safety/
- mlyle 2mo ago
  > Braking distances exist for AI-driven vehicles just as much as human-driven ones. Reaction times differ, though, and abilities to blend deceleration and turning and awareness of what else is around. (Waymo's tendency to be a good defensive driver and bleed a few miles per hour at anything odd help too... though it is worth noting that if Waymo was 1MPH slower, that 6MPH collision wouldn't have happened at all).
graton 2mo ago
https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/HWY26FH008.aspx https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/HWY26FH008.aspx

heaney-555 2mo ago

https://medium.com/the-generator/a-waymo-vehicle-hit-a-kid-but-thats-not-the-full-story-8ea4c189c2e9 https://medium.com/the-generator/a-waymo-vehicle-hit-a-kid-b... "As the Waymo approached the double-parked SUV, a child ran out from behind the SUV and into the roadway, directly in front of the Waymo." Waymo cannae change the laws of physics. Braking distances exist for AI-driven vehicles just as much as human-driven ones.

waterhouse 2mo ago
And if anything, I'd expect machines to have faster reflexes than humans. The Medium article is walled off, but I found another source[1]: "The child reported minor injuries and did not require transportation to a hospital. ... Waymo said at the time that the child ran into the street from behind a double-parked SUV and that the vehicle braked hard before contact, reducing speed significantly before impact." Edit: Waymo's blog[2] says it "reduc[ed] speed from approximately 17 mph to under 6 mph before contact was made", and that "our peer-reviewed model[3] shows that a fully attentive human driver in this same situation would have made contact with the pedestrian at approximately 14 mph". [1] https://ktla.com/news/local-news/new-details-released-in-waymo-vehicle-crash-with-9-year-old-near-santa-monica-school/ https://ktla.com/news/local-news/new-details-released-in-way... [2] https://waymo.com/blog/2026/01/a-commitment-to-transparency-and-road-safety/ https://waymo.com/blog/2026/01/a-commitment-to-transparency-... [3] https://waymo.com/blog/2022/09/benchmarking-av-safety/ https://waymo.com/blog/2022/09/benchmarking-av-safety/
mlyle 2mo ago
> Braking distances exist for AI-driven vehicles just as much as human-driven ones. Reaction times differ, though, and abilities to blend deceleration and turning and awareness of what else is around. (Waymo's tendency to be a good defensive driver and bleed a few miles per hour at anything odd help too... though it is worth noting that if Waymo was 1MPH slower, that 6MPH collision wouldn't have happened at all).

graton 2mo ago

https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/HWY26FH008.aspx https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/HWY26FH008.aspx