Few of Waymo's most serious crashes were Waymo's fault
a day ago
- #autonomous-vehicles
- #safety-statistics
- #human-error
- Waymo's vehicles were involved in 45 serious crashes over six months, with most being due to human error.
- Waymo estimates its vehicles have 79% fewer airbag-triggering crashes and 80% fewer injury-causing crashes compared to human drivers.
- Only a handful of crashes were arguably due to flaws in Waymo's self-driving software.
- Mechanical failures, like a wheel detaching, and 'dooring' incidents (passengers opening doors into bikes/scooters) accounted for some crashes.
- Waymo's safety statistics are credible but should be viewed skeptically as they are self-reported.
- Most crashes involved stationary Waymo vehicles being hit by other drivers, rear-end collisions, or right-of-way violations.
- Three 'dooring' incidents resulted in significant injuries, highlighting a need for improved passenger alerts.
- Waymo's AI architecture uses neural nets for predictions but relies on physics-based software for vehicle control to ensure safety.