Waymo releases latest safety performance report claiming human benchmark outperformance
Waymo says at least 841 people have avoided injuries in traffic crashes across 270 million autonomous miles through the end of June, according to its newly released data.
The latest report on the safety performance of Waymo’s self-driving car technology, Waymo Driver, analyzes five major metropolitan service areas: Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; Los Angeles, California; Phoenix, Arizona; and San Francisco, California.
“Across these cities, the Waymo Driver continues to outperform human benchmarks,” a Waymo press release states. “Regardless of fault, it was involved in 841 fewer injury-causing crashes — an 82% reduction compared to human drivers.”
It adds that in more severe collisions, the Waymo Driver was involved in 95%, or 19 times fewer, serious injury or worse crashes than humans.
“The safety impact is most profound where road users are most exposed,” the release states. “Whether it’s riding in a bike lane alongside the vehicle, stepping into a crosswalk at dusk, or navigating dense traffic on a motorcycle, the Waymo Driver significantly reduces risk — cutting injury-causing crashes involving pedestrians by 93%, cyclists by 86%, and motorcyclists by 82%.”
Waymo promises in the release that as its operations scale, “so does the positive safety impact the Waymo Driver has on roads, our riders, the communities we serve, and the healthcare ecosystems that serve these communities.”
The Waymo Driver undergoes a formal safety review before deployment on public roads under these acceptance criteria.
Earlier this month, Waymo launched in Denver, Colorado; San Diego, California, and Tampa, Florida, expanding its reach to 14 cities. Waymo’s website shows it is already working to expand to 17 more cities.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently issued a public call to action to automated vehicle developers regarding what it calls a pattern of interference with first responders.
The letter states NHTSA expects developers to prioritize first responder interaction.
“NHTSA has already been active in this space and will continue to exercise our enforcement authority for developers that do not address significant safety concerns,” the letter states. “Public trust on our roads is earned, not given.”
An Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) study released in July found that, per vehicle miles traveled (VMT) during the study period (between 2021 and 2024), Waymo’s driverless vehicles were involved in 68% fewer crashes overall than human drivers.
IIHS notes that the sample was restricted to crashes that a person would typically report to the police.
The IIHS researchers estimate that only 22% of the 736 public-road crashes that were reported in which automation was engaged were likely police-reportable — 89 crashes involving Waymo vehicles, 50 involving Cruise vehicles, 10 involving Zoox vehicles, and 10 involving other companies. Because mileage data was only available for Waymo, they used its crashes to calculate self-driving vehicle crash rates. Of Waymo’s 89 police-reportable crash involvements, 64 were in driverless operation, and the others involved supervised use of the automation.”
Waymo released the results of a study in December 2024 that compared its liability claims to human-driver baselines from Swiss Re’s data from over 500,000 claims and more than 200 billion miles of exposure, according to Waymo’s blog.
At the time, Waymo Driver had performed across 25.3 million miles. The study found that the autonomous technology led to an 88% reduction in property damage claims and a 92% reduction in bodily injury claims.
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