To the editor: Waymo robotaxies perform at a very high level, exceeding human capabilities in many ways. However, they are programmed to drive too aggressively. The accident involving a child pedestrian near Grant Elementary School in Santa Monica is a case in point (“Waymo under scrutiny after hitting child near Santa Monica elementary school,” Jan. 29).
Waymo admits that its vehicle was going 17 mph in a school zone with children present. It braked effectively, but still struck the child at 6 mph. However, Waymo justified its safety protocols by stating that a human under identical circumstances would likely have struck the child at an even higher speed, about 14 mph. This misses the point.
Neither human nor robot driver should be traveling at 17 mph in this situation. According to my calculations as a retired professional accident reconstructionist, had the Waymo reduced its speed by just 1 mph to 16 mph, it likely would have been able to avoid the collision by just barely coming to a stop at the 15.5 feet (about one car-length) that it took it to reach the child.
Besides the unnecessary speed, when passing a stopped car, it stands to reason that one should not travel faster than a speed in which one can stop before reaching the length of the car being passed. That way, impact with a pedestrian walking out from in front of the car being passed can be avoided.
It is unnecessary for Waymo vehicles to drive so aggressively. If Waymo modified its programs to reduce the vehicles’ speed to 10 mph while passing stopped cars, these types of collisions could be avoided in the future, with room to spare.
Jack Debes, Santa Monica
