Waymo responded to questionnaires from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as part of the regulatory agency's investigation into a crash that occurred in January in which a robotaxi impacted a girl at low speed.
An initial batch of documents was published on the NHTSA website on Friday morning after TechCrunch inquired about them earlier in the week. The agency told TechCrunch it is "reviewing other responses and will publish them in the investigation file once completed".
Waymo's responses available at the time of publication were completely redacted, citing "confidential business information". Although the information is redacted, the published responses indicate that the investigation is moving forward after Waymo obtained additional time to prepare them.
NHTSA requested a broad set of information on how Waymo determines speed limits in school zones, whether the company has received complaints about the behaviour of its robotaxis near schools, and documentation of Waymo's software, among other things.
The crash occurred on 23 January in Santa Monica, California. One of Waymo's Jaguar I-Pace robotaxis was travelling near a school when a 9-year-old girl crossed the street. The robotaxi was travelling at 17 miles per hour, but braked and reduced its speed to 6 miles per hour before hitting the student "near the right front headlamp assembly", according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) published in March.
The girl fell, walked to the pavement and reported minor injuries, according to that report. She did not require medical transport. The NTSB investigation is independent of the one being conducted by NHTSA. It normally publishes a more detailed final report after 12 months.
NHTSA announced it would investigate the crash a week after it occurred, and the regulator sent 12 questions (some with sub-questions) to Waymo on 23 March. Waymo's initial deadline for responding to questionnaires from NHTSA's Defects Investigation Office (ODI) was 8 May, but documents published on Friday show the company requested an extension in a letter dated 1 May.
"Our mutual objective is for Waymo to provide relevant information that facilitates ODI's investigation while avoiding extraordinary production and review burdens for Waymo and NHTSA ODI that would otherwise not benefit the agency's investigation," wrote Matthew Schwall, Waymo's senior director of safety, in the letter.
Waymo asked NHTSA to clarify some of the questions in its 1 May letter while requesting an extension. Waymo provided answers to some of the questions in a second letter dated 8 July. NHTSA granted Waymo additional time to answer 10 of its 12 questions. Waymo told TechCrunch on Thursday that it has completed its submissions.
