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Waymo & SwissRe Show Impressive New Safety Data

Dec 19, 2024 - forbes.com
A SwissRe report commissioned by Waymo indicates that their autonomous vehicles significantly improve road safety, with 88% fewer property damage claims and 92% fewer injury claims compared to average human drivers. The study highlights that Waymo's safety performance is superior even when compared to human drivers in newer cars with advanced safety features. The report suggests that having Waymo vehicles on the road enhances overall safety, especially when compared to Uber and taxi drivers, who are generally considered worse than average. The report also notes a serious incident involving a Waymo vehicle, but the fault was attributed to a human-driven car, underscoring the complexity of assigning liability in such cases.

In contrast, Cruise, another autonomous vehicle company, had its robotaxi operations halted in California following a safety incident and subsequent regulatory issues. The article argues that regulators should focus on comprehensive safety records rather than isolated incidents when evaluating autonomous vehicle performance. It suggests that other companies like Zoox and Motional should adopt similar third-party evaluations to measure their safety performance effectively. The article emphasizes the importance of competition in the autonomous vehicle industry to drive improvements and innovation, noting that the absence of Cruise could hinder progress.

Key takeaways:

  • Waymo's autonomous vehicles have significantly fewer property damage and injury claims compared to average human drivers, with 88% fewer property damage claims and 92% fewer injury claims.
  • SwissRe's study highlights the importance of evaluating fault and risk in autonomous vehicle incidents, rather than just counting disengagements or crashes.
  • Cruise faced regulatory challenges and had its permits pulled in California due to a serious safety incident and lack of transparency, leading to the shutdown of its robotaxi plans.
  • Future autonomous vehicle companies like Zoox and Motional should aim to measure safety performance with third-party evaluations to ensure road safety and encourage competition.
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