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Waymo's driverless cars just got a notable safety nod: An independent analysis found the company's robotaxis crash less often than human drivers in four major US cities, reports Axios. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reviewed incidents in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin, and concluded that Waymo vehicles were involved in 68% fewer police-reportable crashes per mile compared with human-driven cars. Single-vehicle wrecks were down 85%, and crashes with injuries were 81% lower. The gap wasn't uniform, ranging from a 76% drop in Phoenix to 35% in San Francisco. Austin actually had a slightly higher crash rate for the robotaxis, though researchers cautioned it was a small sample size.
The findings support industry claims that autonomous vehicles can reduce collisions by eliminating impaired or distracted driving, but researchers say the study underscores the need for better data collection nationwide, notes Automotive World. Current rules require companies to report accidents but not miles driven, and Waymo is the only major player to voluntarily supply the latter. Until that changes, making assessments for a larger-scale shift to autonomous vehicles is difficult, says IIHS President David Harkey. The study compared 50 million miles driven by the Waymo vehicles versus 222 billion by human drivers in the same cities. (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)
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