Waymo car hits child near Santa Monica elementary school

A child was hit by a Waymo car, blocks away from an elementary school in Santa Monica, during drop-off hours on Friday.

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

According to the NHTSA, the child was hit by the Waymo after they ran across the street from behind a double-parked SUV toward the school. The 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 (ADS) at the time of the crash, the 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.

The NHTSA said the child suffered minor injuries. The age of the child is unknown.

The NHTSA is continuing to investigate the incident.