Waymo, Alphabet, Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL autonomous driving system subsidiary, released a new research report last week showing that Waymo's autonomous vehicles outperform human-driven vehicles in terms of safety.
The Details: Waymo partnered with Swiss Re, a leading reinsurer, to analyze insurance industry third-party auto liability claims from 25.3 million miles of fully autonomous driving. The report showed a substantial safety improvement over its previous 3.8-million-mile study which "not only validates ADS safety at scale but also provides a new approach for ongoing ADS evaluation," the report stated.
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Waymo vehicles demonstrated an 88% reduction in property damage claims and a 92% reduction in bodily injury claims compared to human drivers. The report revealed only nine property damage claims and two bodily injury claims involving Waymo vehicles, while human drivers would have been expected to generate 78 and 26 such claims, respectively.
Against newer vehicles equipped with ADAS features like automated emergency braking and lane-keeping assistance, Waymo showed an 86% reduction in property damage claims and a 90% reduction in bodily injury claims.
"Auto insurance claims data, traditionally used to assess human driver liability and risk, is a powerful tool in evaluating the safety performance of autonomous vehicles," said Mauricio Peña, chief safety officer at Waymo.
"This is a truly groundbreaking study that not only validates the Waymo Driver's strong safety record, but also provides a scalable framework for ongoing assessment of the impact autonomous vehicles make on road safety," Peña added.
Why It Matters: The safety of autonomous vehicles is under intense scrutiny as automakers push to advance the technology and regulators work to ensure new frameworks and ensure safety on the roadways.
Waymo is involved in an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched in May 2024 due to concerns about the performance and safety of Waymo’s self-driving vehicles. The company also recently announced plans to expand its robotaxi service to Tokyo and Miami in 2026.
Earlier this month, General Motors Co. GM shuttered its autonomous vehicle unit, Cruise, following a serious accident in October 2023. GM said it intends to combine its majority-owned Cruise and GM technical teams into a single team working on advancing autonomous and assisted driving for personal vehicles rather than robotaxis.
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