Robotaxis From Waymo Are Safer Than Human Drivers

Waymo’s fully autonomous taxis have been a common sight in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin for years. In those American cities, researchers from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) compared data from Waymo cars with that of regular cars with a human driver, reports Axios. The results show that the robotaxis were involved in serious collisions requiring police intervention 68 percent less often. The number of single-vehicle accidents, involving only one car, was even 85 percent lower.

The IIHS does conclude, however, that the ‘gains’ of autonomous driving in this area vary significantly by city. In Phoenix, Waymo cars were involved in 76 percent fewer accidents, while in San Francisco, the number of accidents was ‘only’ 35 percent lower. In Austin, surprisingly, Waymo cars were actually involved in more accidents, but according to the researchers, there are also only a few robotaxis to investigate there. Perhaps, therefore, it is not very representative. The IIHS does raise further concerns regarding its own research, such as the fact that it is not always clear exactly how much the robotaxis are being driven. Waymo does so in this case, but other providers of autonomous taxi services often do not. As a result, according to the IIHS, it is difficult to draw serious conclusions.

The perception that autonomous cars are involved in fewer accidents, however, is consistent with claims from other companies in this industry. For instance, Tesla has also reported that cars with enabled FSD are significantly safer than cars with a human driver.

• See Also: Tesla Is Growing Its Service For Robot Taxis