Comparison of Autonomous and Human Driver Safety

Human drivers make mistakes.  Algorithms learn from them. Waymo is quietly rewriting the rules of road safety. Just read Waymo’s latest safety report—50 million self-driven miles across Phoenix and SF. And the numbers are surprisingly solid. → 88% fewer property damage claims compared to human-driven cars. → Only 13 airbag-triggering crashes (vs. 78 expected with humans) → Just 36 crashes with injuries (vs. 190 projected)—that’s an 81% reduction. Waymo also ran a model with Swiss Re. Humans would've triggered 26 insurance claims. Waymo triggered just 2. What's even more impressive is, most of the incidents weren’t even Waymo’s fault. — One got hit during a police chase.  — Another, rear-ended while waiting at a red light. Earlier this year, there was a software recall (it misinterpreted objects like gates and chains), but it was resolved quickly and caused no injuries. While we’re still debating whether we’d ever trust a driverless car, these vehicles are already logging millions of miles, learning as they go— and in many cases, outperforming us. It made me wonder: What if the safest “drivers” of the future don’t drive at all? Not saying we’re fully there yet. But 50 million miles in, it’s worth paying attention. Would you trust it with your commute?

The Waymo Driver now has over 55 million miles under its belt, and its safety results are crushing its human counterparts: 1. 96% fewer injury-involving intersection crashes, which, according to NHTSA, are a leading cause of severe road harm to human drivers. 2. 85% fewer crashes with suspected 'serious' injuries. Even outside of its reduction in ALL crashes, it's especially effective in life-threatening ones 3. A substantial reduction in crashes with vulnerable road users (VRUs). This includes reductions in crashes for pedestrians (92%), cyclists (82%), and motorcyclists (82%). The growing body of work is making it clear. This isn't a fluke. Autonomous vehicles are safer, and they are here to stay. There is a tangible future with zero car-related fatalities. We will be alive to experience it.

With new research, the safety impact of urban AVs has come into sharper focus. We partnered with General Motors, University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, and Virginia Tech Transportation Institute to release this groundbreaking safety study which establishes a benchmark estimate for human ridehail driving in a low-speed, dense urban environment. In comparison, Cruise AVs were involved in: 65% fewer collisions overall, 94% fewer collisions as the primary contributor, and 74% fewer collisions with meaningful risk of injury. See the full blog here: https://lnkd.in/gMP5t93G