It hit the child a 6mph and stopped and called the police, better then a cabbie

Yes, but it sounds like the kid jumped into the street without looking and physics were not on favor of getting from 17 mph to 0 in time.

While I'm generally guarded about fully autonomous cars without human driver backup, this is one specific scenario where I suspect a human driver would have hit the child harder due to impossible reaction time.

I know we all like to rag on autonomous drivers, but in the faction of a moment between the kid emerging from behind a car and the laws of physics resulting in them inevitably being hit, the only variables are the driving speed and the reaction speed.

Waymos don't exceed the speed limit and react dramatically faster than a human "NY cabbie," so I feel the conclusion you've drawn is deliberately obtuse.

To be fair, the kid did not say "I'm walking here"