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State Sen. Stephen Webber, a Democrat from Columbia, begins his tenure in the Missouri Senate on the first day of the 2025 legislative session in January (Annelise Hanshaw\/Missouri Independent).<\/p>\n
State Sen. Stephen Webber is calling on Waymo to retract and correct testimony provided to the Missouri Senate Transportation Committee last week regarding the company\u2019s driverless vehicles.<\/p>\n
Webber, a Democrat from Columbia, said in a letter to Waymo on Friday that the testimony given to the committee falsely claimed that the company\u2019s driverless vehicles had never collided with a child.<\/p>\n
During the hearing on Tuesday, Waymo\u2019s Midwest Policy Manager, Lara Dailey, did not disclose an incident that occurred four days earlier, in which a child was struck by a Waymo driverless vehicle outside their school in Santa Monica, California. During the hearing, Webber asked the Waymo representative whether the company had experienced any incidents in which a driverless vehicle failed to stop properly around children or school buses.<\/p>\n
The representative told the senators that the company\u2019s vehicles had never hit a child, and had never experienced \u201cnear-contact incidents\u201d involving children.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of these encounters have led to collisions or near contact events,\u201d Dailey said.<\/p>\n
But, four days before the hearing, a Waymo vehicle struck a child while they were on their way to school in Santa Monica. Waymo said in a news release the the child ran into the street from behind a double-parked SUV as the Waymo vehicle moved forward toward the school.<\/p>\n
Waymo said the vehicle reduced its speed from 17 mph to 6 mph, something it said a human driver would not have been able to do. The child suffered minor injuries, according to Waymo\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n
In his letter to Waymo, Webber asked for a full report on this incident.<\/p>\n
Dailey testified on Waymo\u2019s behalf in favor of Senate Bill 1050, a bill that would establish new provisions governing the usage of autonomous vehicles.<\/p>\n
After last Friday\u2019s incident, Waymo is now subject to two federal investigations related to child safety.<\/p>\n
The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into failures to yield to stopped school buses, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched an investigation into the incident involving the child pedestrian.<\/p>\n
In response to the incorrect testimony provided to the committee, Webber is asking Waymo to correct the public record, disclose details about its remote call centers and law enforcement interactions and pause its advocacy for Missouri autonomous vehicle legislation until federal investigations are complete and child safety concerns are resolved.<\/p>\n
Waymo\u2019s remote call centers are utilized when law enforcement interacts with Waymo vehicles, Dailey said at the Tuesday hearing. Law enforcement officers are prompted to scan a QR code on the side of the vehicle, where they are connected to a representative from Waymo, she said.<\/p>\n
Webber requested more information on the call centers, and asked where the operators are based.<\/p>\n
\u201cMissouri lawmakers expect complete and accurate testimony \u2014 especially when children\u2019s safety is at stake,\u201d Webber said in a letter to Waymo. \u201cWe do not need California big tech experimenting on families in the Show-Me State \u2026 nor do we accept assurances that later prove untrue.\u201d<\/p>\n