IIHS Study Finds Waymo Robotaxis Have 68% Fewer Crashes

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released an analysis finding that Waymo's driverless cars were involved in 68% fewer crashes per mile traveled compared to human drivers. The study analyzed 50 million miles of Waymo data against 222 billion human-driven miles across Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin. Waymo vehicles showed an 85% reduction in single-vehicle collisions and an 81% reduction in injury-causing collisions.

City-specific data varied, with Phoenix showing a 76% lower crash rate and Los Angeles 71% lower. San Francisco recorded a 35% reduction, while Austin showed a 4% higher crash rate, though the IIHS noted the sample size in Austin was small. Lead author Eric Teoh explained that the data was filtered to match human police-reporting thresholds, as autonomous companies often report minor incidents that humans ignore.

IIHS President David Harkey cautioned that while results are encouraging on a limited scale, current data collection systems are insufficient for monitoring a large-scale expansion. The study focused exclusively on Waymo because it is the only company to voluntarily provide the vehicle miles traveled data necessary for these comparisons. Researchers emphasized that streamlined data systems and stronger federal reporting standards are essential as robotaxis expand into new cities with diverse weather and traffic conditions.