Waymo car hits child near Santa Monica elementary school

A child was hit by a Waymo car on Friday just blocks away from a Santa Monica elementary school.

Waymo released a statement saying it immediately reported the incident to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

According to NHTSA, the child was hit by the Waymo after they ran across the street from behind a double-parked SUV toward the school during drop-off hours. NHTSA said the incident occurred within two blocks of an elementary school where other children, a crossing guard and several double-parked cars were present.

The car was being operated by Waymo's 5th Generation Automated Driving System at the time of the crash, NHTSA said.

Waymo said the car's technology detected an individual and reduced speed from approximately 17 mph to under 6 mph before the child was hit.

"To put this in perspective, our peer-reviewed model shows that a fully attentive human driver in this same situation would have made contact with the pedestrian at approximately 14 mph," Waymo said in a statement. "This significant reduction in impact speed and severity is a demonstration of the material safety benefit of the Waymo Driver."

Waymo said that after the crash, the child stood up and walked to the sidewalk. Police were called and the Waymo pulled over to the side of the road and stayed until officers cleared the scene.

NHTSA said the child, whose age is unknown, suffered minor injuries. 

NHTSA is continuing to investigate the incident.