Waymo autonomous taxis experience 68% fewer police-reportable crashes than human drivers according to a new Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study.
Waymo autonomous taxis recorded 68% fewer crashes severe enough to be reported to the police than the average human driver, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The analysis examined 50 million miles of autonomous travel between 2021 and 2024 across cities including Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin. While human drivers averaged 4.06 crashes per million miles, Waymo vehicles averaged only 1.28. The data showed that Waymo vehicles were involved in 85% fewer single-vehicle crashes and 81% fewer injury-causing crashes than humans. However, the study noted that Waymo vehicles had a higher crash rate in dark conditions and a slightly higher crash rate in Austin due to a smaller sample size. Researchers noted that while the results are encouraging, the data set remains limited. Because autonomous companies are required to report minor fender-benders while humans often do not, the study required significant cleaning to ensure a fair comparison. The administration of the study highlighted the need for better data collection as self-driving technology becomes more prevalent.