Waymo’s Driverless Fleet Reaches 25 Million Miles, But Safety Concerns Persist
Waymo, the autonomous driving subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., has announced a significant milestone: its robotaxi fleet has driven a remarkable 25 million miles without a human driver at the wheel. This achievement, as detailed in Waymo’s recent safety report, was primarily driven by the company’s operations in Phoenix, Arizona, where over 17 million miles were logged. The remaining miles were driven in San Francisco, California.
Despite the impressive mileage, Waymo’s autonomous driving technology continues to face scrutiny. While the company boasts a 72% reduction in injury-causing crashes compared to the average human driver, and an 81% reduction in airbag deployment crashes, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched an investigation into Waymo’s vehicles. This investigation follows reports of concerning driving behaviors, including collisions with stationary objects like gates and chains, other parked vehicles, and instances where the driving system appears to have disobeyed traffic rules.
The NHTSA’s concern stems from the potential for these behaviors to increase the risk of accidents and injuries. “Although this office is unaware of injury allegations, several of the incidents involved collisions with clearly visible objects that a competent driver would be expected to avoid,” the regulator stated in a letter to Waymo. In June, Waymo issued a recall for 672 of its self-driving vehicles after acknowledging their inability to effectively avoid poles or pole-like objects.
As autonomous vehicle technology continues to evolve, the focus on safety remains paramount. Waymo, along with other industry players, is striving to achieve driving performance that surpasses human capabilities. However, incidents like those investigated by the NHTSA highlight the ongoing challenges and the need for continued scrutiny and improvement in this rapidly developing field.