Pedestrian hit by SUV is thrown into Waymo robotaxi and dies in Dallas

What happened

At about 11:30 p.m. on Friday, August 7, 2026, a man was crossing the 4500 block of Maple Avenue in Dallas, Texas. Dallas police said he was outside a crosswalk. Surveillance video obtained by NBC 5 showed two people leaving a store and waiting at the curb before the man stepped into the street.

Police said an SUV traveling in the southbound lanes struck the man from behind and the impact threw him into the northbound lanes, where a Waymo robotaxi with no one inside was traveling in the opposite direction. In its report to NHTSA, Waymo said its vehicle had begun slowing to yield to the pedestrian walking in the roadway ahead, and that after being hit by the SUV and striking the ground he made contact with the rear left of the Waymo. NHTSA’s data lists the Waymo’s pre-crash speed as 5 mph. Waymo told NBC 5 he was thrown more than 30 feet by the first collision.

Both vehicles stopped. The man was taken to a hospital, where he died.

The system involved

The Waymo was a driverless Jaguar I-Pace robotaxi operating in autonomous mode in Dallas with no passengers. According to figures attributed to Waymo and reported by EVwire, the vehicle had been traveling about 24 mph, detected the pedestrian roughly 150 feet ahead and had slowed to about 5 mph by the time of contact.

Investigation and response

Dallas police responded and investigated. FOX 4 reported that the SUV driver stopped and cooperated. NBC 5 described the investigation as ongoing on August 10, 2026, and reported no charges. Waymo said the safety of riders and other road users was its top priority and that it was saddened by the incident.

Waymo reported the crash to NHTSA under the Standing General Order, which requires reports of crashes involving a fatality. No NHTSA defect investigation or NTSB investigation specific to this crash was found in the sources opened for this entry.

What is not established

No official determination of fault was found. EVwire reported that police said no one was at fault, but the FOX 4 and NBC 5 reports opened for this entry do not include such a statement. The SUV’s speed (reported by EVwire as about 35 mph in a 30 mph zone) comes from secondary reporting and was not confirmed in a police document.