Self-driving cars are gradually moving from science fiction to reality. One of the leading companies in this field, Waymo, has released data that addresses a key issue for many – safety. The study, conducted in partnership with reinsurance giant Swiss Re, shows that Waymo’s robotic taxis are safer than vehicles driven by humans.
The study analyzed millions of miles of driving data and hundreds of thousands of insurance claims, and it backs up Waymo’s safety claims. The results show that Waymo’s autonomous vehicles have achieved significantly lower rates of damage compared to human drivers: 88% fewer property damage claims and 92% fewer personal injury claims.
For comparison, in 40.7 million kilometers of autonomous driving, Waymo vehicles were involved in only 9 cases of property damage and 2 cases of personal injury. Over the same distance, human drivers would have been expected to experience 78 cases of property damage and 26 cases of personal injury.
Even when compared to newer vehicles equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), Waymo’s robotic taxis still performed better. The study found 86% fewer property damage claims and 90% fewer injury claims compared to vehicles with ADAS features such as automatic emergency braking and lane keeping.
It should be noted, however, that these study results cannot be considered complete and conclusive. The baseline data in this study covers the entire United States. This means different driving conditions, weather, traffic, and speeds. Waymo’s robotic taxis, on the other hand, are limited to certain areas with fairly stable weather conditions (no snow or ice), and speeds are also lower. It can be argued that if the study had limited its database to areas where Waymo operates, the results would have been different. Most likely, they would still be positive, just less impressive.
Source: arenaev