Waymo, which is also operating in Japan, announces survey results that fully self-driving cars are up to 25 times safer for pedestrians and cyclists
On May 1, 2025,
New Study: Waymo is reducing serious crashes and making streets safer for those most at risk
https://waymo.com/blog/2025/05/waymo-making-streets-safer-for-vru
Waymo says its robotaxis are up to 25x safer for pedestrians and cyclists | Electrek
https://electrek.co/2025/05/01/waymo-says-its-robotaxis-are-up-to-25x-safer-for-pedestrians-and-cyclists/
Waymo is developing its own fully automated driving system, the Waymo Driver. Waymo is investigating how the Waymo Driver contributes to improving road safety through a project called Safety Impact .
Expanding on the Safety Impact research, a detailed study comparing the performance of Waymo Drivers to human drivers in multiple types of crashes has been published in Traffic Injury Prevention , an academic journal that covers research papers on traffic accidents.
In Waymo's research paper, the following collision accidents were compared between the Waymo Driver and a human driver: 'collision with a bicycle,' 'collision with a motorcycle,' 'collision with a pedestrian,' ' secondary traffic accident ,' 'collision with a single vehicle,' 'collision with a vehicle traveling behind,' 'collision with a vehicle traveling in the opposite lane,' 'collision between vehicles at an intersection,' and 'collision between vehicles from the side.'
The study found that when comparing Waymo Drivers with humans over more than 56.7 million miles (about 91 million km) of driving, regardless of who was at fault, Waymo Drivers have the following characteristics:
- Safer interactions with vulnerable road users (VRU: pedestrians, cyclists, motorbikes)
Compared to human drivers, Waymo Drivers significantly reduce collisions involving injuries with pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists: 92% fewer pedestrians, 82% fewer bicyclists, and 82% fewer motorcyclists.
- Significantly reduced injury accidents at intersections
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), injury accidents at intersections are one of the leading causes of serious traffic accidents for human drivers. However, compared to human drivers, Waymo Driver has reduced the rate of injury accidents at intersections by 96%. This is largely due to the Waymo Driver's ability to detect vehicles that run red lights and respond appropriately.
・85% reduction in accidents resulting in serious or more serious injuries
Previous studies have shown that Waymo Drivers show a significant reduction in crashes with all injuries combined compared to human drivers. However, this study found that Waymo Drivers also have a lower crash rate than human drivers in crashes with serious injuries. The results are statistically significant, but fortunately based on a small number of cases, as serious injuries are rare.
The video below shows the moment when the Waymo Driver actually succeeded in avoiding a collision.
A motorcycle that tried to forcefully overtake the Waymo Driver at an intersection at night fell in front of the vehicle, but the Waymo Driver made a sudden stop to avoid colliding with the motorcycle and the driver.
It also properly recognizes bicycles that ignore traffic signals and enter intersections, and stops to avoid hitting them.
Even when a motorcycle traveling in the same direction falls over, the system successfully detects and avoids it.
Even though a sudden change in lane caused two cars to collide in front of the Waymo Driver, the Waymo Driver was able to stop suddenly and avoid a secondary traffic accident.
Detects vehicles that run red lights at intersections at night and avoids collisions.
Waymo also publishes the total number of accidents that have occurred in each region in the United States where the Waymo Driver is deployed, including the number of collisions in which airbags were deployed and collisions in which serious or more serious injuries were sustained.
| injury | Airbag deploys | Serious injury or worse | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix | twenty four | 8 | 0 |
| San Francisco | 16 | 7 | 2 |
| Los Angeles | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| Austin | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| total | 48 | 18 | 2 |
While this study did not take into account whether or not a Waymo driver was involved in the crash, previous research led by insurance company Swiss Re has shown that the positive impact of a Waymo driver is even greater when their involvement in the accident is taken into account.
'As Waymo continues to scale, it's exciting to see the real, positive impact it's making on America's streets,' said Mauricio Peña, Waymo's Chief Safety Officer. 'This study adds to the growing evidence that Waymo Driver is playing a critical role in reducing serious crashes and protecting all road users.'
'It's encouraging to see real-world data showing Waymo outperforming human drivers in terms of safety,' said Jonathan Adkins, CEO of the Governors Highway Safety Association. 'The reduction in accidents and injuries, particularly for pedestrians and bicyclists, is exactly the progress we want to see from self-driving cars.'
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in Vehicle, Posted by logu_ii