Waymo’s Driverless Vehicles Show Promising Safety Performance, Study Finds
Waymo, the autonomous vehicle company owned by Alphabet, has expanded its fleet of driverless vehicles to more cities. A recent study conducted by reinsurer Swiss Re, in partnership with Waymo, suggests that these autonomous cars may help reduce crashes on roadways. The study compared the insurance claims of Waymo’s driverless cars to those operated by human drivers and found that Waymo’s vehicles resulted in fewer claims.
Swiss Re analyzed liability claims from collisions covering 25.3 million miles driven by Waymo’s autonomous cars. The study also compared Waymo’s liability claims to data from over 500,000 claims and 200 billion driving miles from human drivers. The results showed that Waymo Driver demonstrated better safety performance compared to vehicles operated by humans. Specifically, cars operated by Waymo Driver resulted in 88 percent fewer property damage claims and 92 percent fewer bodily injury claims.
In a separate analysis, Swiss Re compared Waymo Driver to newer vehicles equipped with advanced safety technology, such as driver assistance systems and automated emergency braking. Even in this comparison, Waymo still outperformed other vehicles, with an 86 percent reduction in property damage claims and a 90 percent reduction in bodily injury claims.
However, there are limitations to consider. Waymo’s operations are currently limited to cities, which may skew the results since rural areas often experience a higher number of crashes, especially fatal ones. Additionally, Waymo’s real-world testing period is relatively short, making it challenging to accurately assess the system’s overall safety performance.
While the numbers look promising for Waymo Driver, there have been some setbacks. In the summer, Waymo issued its second recall after one of its autonomous vehicles hit a telephone pole at low speed in Phoenix. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also launched an investigation into Waymo, uncovering 24 incidents involving crashes or traffic violations.
Overall, the study suggests that Waymo’s driverless vehicles show potential for improving road safety, but further research and testing are needed to fully assess their impact.
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