The Growing Proof That Autonomous Cars Save Lives
Plenty of people remain spooked by autonomous vehicles, or AVs. Some experts and policymakers have cautioned that AVs won’t necessarily make roads safer. When it comes to partial or full autonomy, the picture isn’t entirely clear, in part because there aren’t enough self-driving cars to make meaningful apples-to-apples comparisons. Yet mounting research suggests that self-driving cars crash…
Recent research indicates that autonomous vehicles (AVs) are significantly safer than human-driven cars, with far fewer crashes and injuries. Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), such as automatic emergency braking, are already reducing injuries and property damage claims. Waymo, a leader in AV technology, claims its robotaxis have logged 20 million rides over 220 million miles, with studies showing 92% fewer fatal or serious injury crashes compared to human drivers.
This includes reductions in pedestrian injuries and crashes at intersections, where accidents are most common. While it's difficult to compare AVs to human drivers due to incomplete data and limited fair-weather conditions, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) concluded that automated cars crash less often than people.
In a recent study, Waymo's vehicles were involved in 68% fewer crashes overall, with injury crashes being 81% lower on a per-mile basis. The industry and supporters emphasize the safety advantages of AVs, as they never get drunk, drowsy, or distracted. However, state and local regulations create a fragmented approach, complicating comparisons of crash rates.
NHTSA recently granted a motor-vehicle safety exemption to Zoox, Amazon's subsidiary, to deploy its robotaxis without a steering wheel or pedals. The agency deemed Zoox's vehicle as providing an equivalent level of safety to conventional cars, paving the way for its commercial operation.
Written by urgent.news from IEEE Spectrum's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
