Waymo autonomous vehicles experienced 68% fewer accidents compared to human drivers in a three-year span across four U.S. cities, as indicated by recent findings from the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The study revealed 89 reportable crashes involving Waymo in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin between 2021 and 2024.
During the same period and in the same locations, excluding interstates and highways, there were 901,525 police-reported crashes involving human drivers. Steven Waslander, director of the University of Toronto Robotics Institute, who was not part of the study, expressed excitement about witnessing this technology being put into significant real-world practice after years of anticipation.
Of the 89 Waymo-involved crashes, 72% occurred when the Waymo vehicle was operating without a driver present, with about half of the incidents involving passengers. The study highlighted that Waymo covered approximately 80 million kilometers autonomously, while human drivers traveled 355 billion kilometers in the same locations during the three-year period.
The research quantified the crash rates per million vehicle miles traveled, showing human drivers had a rate of 4.06 crashes per million miles, whereas Waymo vehicles recorded 1.28 crashes per million miles, representing a 68% lower rate. The study relied on independent data collected from police reports, Waymo, and federal databases.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, accidents involving autonomous vehicles must be reported if the vehicle’s automated driving system was engaged within 30 seconds of the crash and resulted in specific property damage or injuries. Waymo operates in 11 U.S. states and has intentions to expand to the United Kingdom and Japan, with lobbying efforts underway in Canada.
Eric Teoh, director of statistical services at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, emphasized the importance of considering the types of crashes when analyzing the data. Teoh viewed the study results positively, highlighting that Waymo vehicles were involved less frequently in crashes causing injuries or fatalities compared to human-driven vehicles.
While Waymo voluntarily reports its data, Teoh suggested that U.S. governments should make datasets more accessible and comprehensible. However, challenges remain for Waymo’s entry into the Canadian market, with concerns raised about job protection and the unique climate conditions in Canada.
Experts acknowledged that although autonomous vehicles have lower collision rates than human drivers, instances of technical challenges have been widely shared on social media. Despite these hurdles, there is optimism about the future of driverless vehicles, with ongoing advancements and learning processes in place for these innovative technologies.
