Waymo’s driverless cars were involved in 18 accidents over 20 months

Waymo’s driverless cars have driven 6.1 million autonomous miles in Phoenix, Arizona, including 65,000 miles without a human behind the wheel from 2019 through the first nine months of 2020. That’s according to data from a new internal report Waymo published today that analyzed a portion of collisions involving the robo-taxi service Waymo One, which launched in 2018. In total, Waymo’s vehicles were involved in 18 accidents with a pedestrian, cyclist, driver, or other object and experienced 29 disengagements — times human drivers were forced to take control — that likely would have otherwise resulted in an accident.

Three independent studies in 2018 — by the Brookings Institution, the think tank HNTB, and the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (AHAS) — found that a majority of people aren’t convinced of driverless cars’ safety. And Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE) reports a majority of Americans don’t think the technology is “ready for prime time.” These concerns are not without reason. In March 2018, Uber suspended testing of its autonomous Volvo XC90 fleet after one of its cars struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona. Separately, Tesla’s Autopilot driver-assistance system has been blamed for a number of fender benders, including one in which a Tesla Model S collided with a parked fire truck. Now the automaker’s Full Self Driving Beta program is raising new concerns.

Waymo's driverless cars were involved in 18 accidents over 20 months

Waymo's driverless cars have driven 6.1 million autonomous miles in Phoenix, Arizona, including 65,000 miles without a human behind the wheel from 2019 through the first nine months of 2020. That's according to data from a new internal report published today by Waymo, which analyzed a portion of collisions involving the robo-taxi service Waymo One that launched in 2018.

https://venturebeat.com