posted in Technology
Waymo’s driverless cars crash way less often than humans: report
driving.ca/auto-news/industry/waymo-safer-humans-robotaxi-autonomous-iihs-safety
drivingWaymo’s driverless cars crash way less often than humans: reportAn IIHS analysis says the robotaxis got in 68% fewer collisions on a per-mile-travelled basis, though there are some caveats
Replying to @sanitation@lemmy.today
But block intersections way more than humans. And get stuck in flood zones way more than humans. And pass stopped school busses way more than humans.
And they still have more accidents per mile than actual taxi drivers.
Guessing HeadlightsWaymo Robotaxis Record Higher Serious Injury and Fatal Crash Rate Than NYC's For-Hire FleetA new study by traffic expert Sam Schwartz's research program at Hunter College and Open Plans found that Waymo robotaxis have a higher rate of crashesReplying to @reddig33@lemmy.world
No, they actually have fewer total accidents per mile than actual taxi drivers. Did you read the link you posted? They are involved in 1.5 times more accidents with severe or fatal injuries per mile, but that is comparing Waymos driving in more open cities at higher speeds to taxis in the very slow speed, high traffic city of NYC where the primary use case is different. Also, the only fatal accidents (2 of them) have been the fault of other cars, not Waymos, so it’s kinda unfair to include those.
Replying to @dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
“The researchers compared Waymo’s nationwide crash data with New York City’s for-hire fleet and found the robotaxis had a serious injury or fatal crash rate about 1.5 times higher per mile driven.”
Replying to @reddig33@lemmy.world
Yes, thank you for quoting exactly what I said??
You are quoting the serious or fatal injury stats. The overall injury accident rate, though, as quoted from the article: “When all injury-causing crashes were considered, Waymo performed better. Its robotaxis were involved in 67% fewer injury crashes per million miles than New York City’s for-hire vehicles.”
Replying to @dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
Fatalities and serious injuries sound like a far more important statistic to optimize for in terms of public safety.
Replying to @BassetHound@sh.itjust.works
They would need to have more of them first for the data to actually be accurate at all. From what I could find, there have been no Waymo caused fatalities - two deaths caused by other drivers though - and four serious injuries, for roughly 220 million miles driven.
While you can then state that the rate of fatalities is 1 per 110 million miles, it’s not really useful in any way.
DAM FirmWaymo Accidents | NHTSA Crash Data [Updated 2026]Waymo robotaxis are spreading across the United States, but how often are they crashing? Are they safe? We analyzed 4 years of NHTSA crash data.