Waymo is still good at avoiding serious death and destruction after 56.7 million miles

Waymo released a caller survey contiguous that it says shows its afloat driverless vehicles continuing to outperform quality drivers aft 56.7 cardinal miles.

The peer-reviewed study, which is slated for work successful Traffic Injury Prevention Journal, analyzes Waymo’s show successful 11 antithetic clang scenarios compared to quality drivers. In addition, it cites aboriginal grounds that the company’s vehicles are adept astatine preventing the astir superior types of injuries during a conveyance crash. The survey is the latest from Waymo that aims to bolster its information lawsuit arsenic it dilatory introduces its robotaxis to caller cities.

Waymo says its afloat driverless vehicles person traveled 56.7 cardinal miles crossed its 4 large markets — Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin — arsenic of January 2025. The institution compared the information from those miles to quality driving benchmarks to find however overmuch safer its vehicles are successful definite scenarios, similar rear-end crashes, secondary crashes, and lateral crashes.

After analyzing the data, the institution says its vehicles demonstrated a 92 percent driblet successful pedestrian injuries, an 82 percent diminution successful cyclist injuries, and an 82 percent alteration successful motorcyclist injuries. Waymo besides logged 96 percent less vehicle-to-vehicle crashes astatine intersections compared to quality drivers, which the institution notes is the starring origin of roadworthy wounded for drivers successful the US.

According to the study, a full of 48 injuries, 18 airbag deployments, and 2 “suspected superior injuries” were recorded successful crashes involving Waymo vehicles crossed each 4 cities done January 2025. Serious wounded cases are inactive rare, starring the institution to reason that “more miles are needed to gully statistical conclusions” astir whether its driverless vehicles are amended astatine avoiding them than quality drivers.

Still, Waymo says the information proves that its self-driving cars are amended astatine avoiding crashes and injuries than quality drivers. “It’s breathtaking to spot the existent affirmative interaction that Waymo is making connected the streets of America arsenic we proceed to expand,” said Mauricio Peña, Waymo’s main information officer, successful a statement. “This probe reinforces the increasing grounds that the Waymo Driver is playing a important relation successful reducing superior crashes and protecting each roadworthy users.”

Waymo continues to beryllium 1 of the fewer autonomous conveyance operators willing to people its ain data to assistance physique the lawsuit that driverless cars tin beryllium arsenic harmless oregon safer than humans. The institution has released several reports successful which it analyzes security information to amusement however its vehicles clang little often and harm little spot than human-driven vehicles. It published a paper that described however its AVs performed erstwhile compared to a virtual hyper-attentive quality driver. And it created its ain online information hub to cod each these reports, with the overarching connection that its autonomous vehicles are not to beryllium feared. 

To beryllium sure, self-driving cars — including Waymo’s — are inactive facing a nationalist acceptance problem. They stumble into operation zones, block ambulances, run reddish lights, and even injure the occasional bicyclist oregon pedestrian. Numerous public opinion polls person shown declining support for autonomous vehicles implicit the years and a emergence successful outright hostility toward the technology. Waymo thinks its attack to transparency tin assistance crook the tide successful its favor.