Waymo‘s robotaxi fleet drove 25 million miles without a human driver as of the end of July, the Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL subsidiary said in its recent safety report.
What Happened: The more driverless miles were driven by the company’s fleet in Phoenix where it covered over 17 million miles without a driver, followed by San Francisco where it drove over 7 million miles.
However, in the nearly 25 million miles driven without a human driver in San Francisco and Phoenix, the company had 72% fewer injury-causing crashes as compared to an average human driver and 81% fewer airbag deployment crashes, the company said.
Why It Matters: Autonomous vehicle operators including Waymo are aiming to drive better than human drivers. However, it has had its share of safety concerns.
In May, the U.S. auto safety regulator National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) commenced a probe into Waymo vehicles following reports of unexpected driving behaviors. These reports included collisions with stationary and semi-stationary objects such as gates and chains, as well as collisions with other parked vehicles.
Some instances also pertain to the driving system disobeying traffic rules.
The regulator expressed concern that these driving behaviors may increase the risks of crash and injury. “Although this office is unaware of injury allegations, several of the incidents involved collisions with clearly visible objects that a competent driver would be expected to avoid,” the regulator wrote in a letter to Waymo dated May 23.
In June, Waymo issued a recall for 672 of its self-driving vehicles after identifying their inability to avoid a pole or pole-like objects.
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