Waymo robotaxis are safer than any hi-tech human-driven car, study claims

Third-party insurance claims suggest that Waymo is the safest way to travel, reducing property damage claims by 88% and bodily injury claims by 92%, compared to human-driven vehicles.

After 25.3 million fully autonomous miles driven, the Alphabet-owned self-driving service Waymo is confident that its robotaxis are safer than any human-driven vehicles. Waymo collaborated with Swiss Re, a leading insurer, to conduct the study.

Waymo’s data is just a drop in the ocean of over 500,000 claims and over 200 billion miles of exposure analyzed. Waymo Driver (Automated Driving System, or ADS) was involved in just nine property damage claims and two bodily injury claims.

Two of the property damage claims and both bodily injury claims included in the study are still open (unresolved) and could close without any liability payment.

The study found that Waymo reduced property damage claims by 88% and bodily injury claims by 92%.

“For the same distance, human drivers would be expected to have 78 property damage and 26 bodily injury claims,” Waymo said in a press release.

The company also compared its ADS performance with that of the most modern vehicles of 2018-2021, equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), such as automated emergency braking, forward collision warning, lane-keeping assistance, and blind spot warning. The results were almost identical.

“When compared to this group, the Waymo Driver showed an 86% reduction in property damage claims and 90% reduction in bodily injury claims.”

Swiss Re explains that the study analyzed a large dataset across multiple cities.

“Our research shows how insurance data can help evaluate autonomous vehicle safety and provide the framework needed to support widespread adoption,” said Ali Shahkarami, Global Head of P&C Solutions at Swiss Re. “These promising results help underscore the potential of this technology to create a safer future for our roads.”

Waymo also claims that the study provides robust evidence that Waymo had no responsibility for the vast majority of the collisions in which its vehicles were involved.