Skip to main content

Study: Self-driving cars get into fewer crashes than cars with human drivers

Google self-driving car
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Self-driving cars get into fewer crashes than cars with human drivers, according to a study released by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and commissioned by Google. While the study warns that it’s a bit early to draw confident conclusions, the results represent “a powerful finding.”

The researchers found that the national crash rate estimate is 4.2 per million miles for cars with human drivers, while the crash rate for self-driving cars in autonomous mode is 3.2 per million miles. The study notes that national crash data is complicated by the varying incident reporting requirements in each state, as well as the fact that not all car crashes are reported.

Recommended Videos

The authors of the study, titled “Automated Vehicle Crash Rate Comparison Using Naturalistic Data,” also point out that in California, where most automated vehicles currently function, all crashes involving a self-driving car must be reported.

Thus, we have a situation in which we are attempting to analyze self-driving car data, which has a full record of all crashes, relative to the current vehicle fleet, which has an incomplete record of crashes,” the researchers write. “The comparison is, as the old saying goes, apples to oranges.”

The authors of the study also note that they had about 1.3 million miles of data for self-driving cars compared with the nearly 3 trillion miles driven by traditional cars with humans behind the wheel in 2013. This may help explain why other studies, including one released in October by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, may arrive at different conclusions.

Though data is limited, self-driving cars have lower rates of more severe crashes and lower rates of less severe crashes compared to national rates or rates from naturalistic data sets. Also, self-driving cars were never at fault in crashes when using methods from the Second Strategic Highway Research Program, according to the researchers.

Jason Hahn
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jason Hahn is a part-time freelance writer based in New Jersey. He earned his master's degree in journalism at Northwestern…
Dubai Police to deploy driverless patrol cars with AI smarts
Dubai's autonomous patrol car.

While U.S. firms like Waymo and Cruise focus on ridesharing services with their autonomous vehicles, the United Arab Emirates' coastal city of Dubai is aiming to take the technology to another level by deploying it in police patrol cars.

Dubai Police recently announced plans to use fully electric, self-driving patrol cars in residential areas, local media reported this week.

Read more
Waymo expands robotaxi service area in San Francisco
The upcoming Zeekr vehicle from Geely.

Robotaxi leader Waymo is expanding its ridesharing service area in San Francisco.

The Alphabet-owned company announced move on Monday in a message on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. It means that more riders can now take trips in Waymo’s driverless vehicles within a 47-square-mile area of the city.

Read more
Cruise autonomous vehicle drives over woman just after she was hit by another car
A Cruise autonomous car.

An autonomous vehicle (AV) operated by Cruise ran over a pedestrian in San Francisco on Monday night just after she’d been hit by another car, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

According to witnesses, the force of the initial impact knocked the woman into the path of the Cruise robotaxi, leaving her pinned under one of its wheels. The driver in the other car reportedly fled the scene.

Read more