Waymo is facing a federal safety investigation after one of its self-driving vehicles struck a 9-year-old girl near a school in Santa Monica, California, earlier this year.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), is examining the January crash and has received information from Waymo as part of its inquiry into the incident, TechCrunch reported. The agency has begun publishing documents related to the investigation, although the company’s responses released so far have been fully redacted because they contain information Waymo considers confidential.

Benzinga contacted Waymo for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

The crash happened on Jan. 23 when a Waymo-operated Jaguar I-Pace was traveling near a school. The vehicle was moving at about 17 miles per hour when the child entered the roadway. According to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the robotaxi slowed to roughly six miles per hour before making contact with the girl near the front-right portion of the vehicle.

The child fell after the impact but was able to get herself to the side of the road and reported minor injuries. She was not taken to a hospital, according to the NTSB’s preliminary findings.

The NTSB is conducting its own investigation into the crash, separate from the NHTSA probe. Its preliminary report was released in March, while a more comprehensive final report is typically expected later.

NHTSA opened its investigation about a week after the collision. In March, the agency’s Office of Defects Investigation sent Waymo a series of questions covering the company’s autonomous-driving technology and its operations around schools.

Among other things, regulators sought information about how Waymo establishes vehicle speeds in school zones, whether the company had received complaints involving its robotaxis near schools and details about the software used to operate the vehicles.

Waymo initially faced a May deadline to provide the requested information. The company subsequently sought additional time, asking regulators to clarify some of their questions and arguing that the process should focus on information relevant to the investigation without creating unnecessary burdens for either side.

The NHTSA granted the company additional time on most of the questions. Waymo submitted some responses in July and said last week that it had completed its submissions. The NHTSA said it is still reviewing other material and plans to add additional responses to the investigation file when that process is complete.

The investigation comes as Waymo continues expanding its robotaxi service and autonomous-driving operations, putting greater scrutiny on how its vehicles handle unpredictable situations involving pedestrians, children and other vulnerable road users.

For regulators, the Santa Monica collision could provide another test of whether autonomous-driving systems are adequately equipped to respond to children and other pedestrians near schools. The eventual findings could also help determine whether changes to Waymo’s technology or operating practices are necessary.

At this stage, the NHTSA investigation has not established that a defect caused the crash. The agency’s review remains ongoing, while the separate NTSB investigation is expected to provide a more detailed account of what happened.

Photo Courtesy: Markus Mainka on Shutterstock.com