Latest study claims Waymo robotaxis drive safer than us

20 December 2024

The world is watching as self-driving cars move from science fiction to reality. One of the leading companies in this space, Waymo, has just released data that addresses a key concern for many: safety. A study conducted in partnership with reinsurance giant Swiss Re suggests that Waymo's robotaxis are safer than human-driven vehicles.

The study analyzed millions of miles of driving data and hundreds of thousands of insurance claims, and it supports Waymo's safety claims. The results show that Waymo's autonomous vehicles achieved an 88% reduction in property damage claims and a 92% reduction in injury claims compared to human drivers.

To put this into perspective, in 25.3 million miles of autonomous driving, Waymo's vehicles were involved in only nine property damage claims and two injury claims. For the same distance, human drivers would be expected to have 78 property damage and 26 injury claims.

Even when compared to newer vehicles equipped with advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), Waymo's robotaxis still came out on top. The study found an 86% reduction in property damage claims and a 90% reduction in injury claims compared to vehicles with ADAS features like automated emergency braking and lane-keeping assistance.

Many people are hesitant to trust a machine with their safety, but this data suggests that robotaxis can be safer than human-driven cars. Or can they?

There's a saying in the data analytics world - you can massage any dataset to give you the numbers you want. And it is true. Waymo's research seems to be comparing apples to pears. While the results are impressive on the face of it, the population data comes from the entire US. That means variable driving conditions, weather, traffic, and speed. Waymo robotaxis, on the other hand, are limited to certain areas with fairly steady weather patterns (no snow or ice), and the speeds are lower as well. You could argue that if the research limited its data pool to the areas in which Waymo operates, the results would be different. Very likely, they would still be positive, just less dramatic.

We still have a long way to go before robotaxis become commonplace, but this study is a step forward in demonstrating their safety. As Waymo and other companies continue to develop and refine the technology, we can expect to see even more impressive safety records in the future.

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