Waymo's driverless cars crash way less often than humans: report

Waymo's driverless cars crash less often than human drivers, according to a report from the American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The IIHS said Waymo's computer-controlled cars crash 68% less often than humans on a per-vehicle-mile-travelled basis. IIHS President David Harkey said the results show that, on a limited scale, these driverless cars are safer than human drivers who can be impaired or drowsy or suffer lapses in attention. The study analyzed data from 2021 to 2024 in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin, where Waymo vehicles traveled about 50 million miles. Human drivers in the same areas accumulated 222 billion miles during the same time-frame. Waymo's crash rate was 76% lower in Phoenix, 35% lower in San Francisco, 71% lower in Los Angeles, and 4% higher in Austin. The IIHS noted the analysis excluded minor incidents involving Waymos that would likely not have been reported to the police had a human been driving. Eric Teoh, IIHS director of statistical services and lead author of the study, said the results are encouraging signs for the future of driverless vehicles but stressed the need to improve data collection systems.