Waymo’s driverless cars were involved in 68% fewer crashes than human drivers, according to a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
However, the organization said as the technology is rollled out more widely, a better system for tracking safety is needed.
Of Waymo’s 89 police-reportable crash involvements, 64 were in driverless operation, and the others involved supervised use of the automation.
Waymo vehicles traveled about 50 million miles in driverless operation over the study period, compared with about 222 billion miles by human drivers over the same period and in the same locations.
Overall, Waymo’s crash involvement rate was 68% lower than that of human drivers – 76% lower in Phoenix, 35% lower in San Francisco, 71% lower in Los Angeles, and 4% higher in Austin, where the sample size was relatively small.
“Those are encouraging signs for the future of driverless vehicles,” said Eric Teoh, IIHS director of statistical services and lead author of the study.
“Now we need to get the data collection system right, so that we can ensure that level of safety continues as these technologies become more prevalent.”
