Waymo vehicles are significantly less likely to get into “police-reportable” accidents than human-driven vehicles.
That’s the conclusion that a July 2026 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) report came to.
The report found that Waymo’s L4 vehicles in driverless operation were 68 percent less likely to be involved in police-reportable accidents than human drivers in the same years and areas.
The report notes that this 68 percent figure is consistent with earlier studies, such as a 2017 study that found that Google’s self-driving cars were 64 percent less likely to get into accidents than human drivers, and a 2024 study that found that Waymo’s vehicles were 55 percent less likely to get into accidents than human drivers.
The report also found that Waymo’s vehicles were 91 percent less likely to rear-end other vehicles than human drivers, and 40 percent less likely to be rear-ended than human drivers.
In addition, the report found that Waymo’s vehicles were 85 percent less likely to be involved in single-vehicle crashes and 81 percent less likely to be involved in injury crashes than human drivers.
The report is based on data obtained from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) SGO website. The report defines police-reportable accidents as accidents which are severe enough that reasonable people would report them to the police.
The report estimates that only 22 percent of the 736 accidents the Waymo vehicles in driverless operation were involved in were likely police-reportable.
No fatal crashes were involved during the study period.
The data in the report is based on accidents in California, Arizona and Texas, where Waymo’s vehicles operated during the study period.
However, even though it appears that Waymo’s vehicles are less likely to get into accidents than human drivers, that doesn’t mean that Waymo’s vehicles aren’t capable of getting into accidents that may hurt people, according to accident attorney Jeffrey Nadrich.
“Waymo’s vehicles have been involved in accidents involving injuries and death,” Nadrich said.
Study: Waymo Vehicles More Likely to Be in Serious Injury or Fatal Crashes Than New York City For-Hire Drivers
Waymo’s vehicles, while less likely to be involved in injury-causing accidents, are significantly more likely to be involved in accidents involving serious injury or fatality than New York City’s existing for-hire fleet, according to a July 2026 OpenPlans report.
The report found that Waymo’s national serious injury or death crash rate is 1.5 times higher than that of the for-hire fleet in New York City, and, in the Bay Area in California, is over three times higher than San Francisco’s for-hire fleet.
The report also found that Waymo’s fleet hasn’t yet driven enough miles in order to support concluding that they’re safer than for-hire drivers.
The report used crash and VMT data from the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) and NYC Department of Transportation (DOT), as well as publicly accessible crash and VMT data from Waymo and data from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
The report concedes that while Waymo’s vehicles are more likely to be involved in accidents involving serious injury or death than for-hire drivers in New York City or San Francisco, they are 67 percent less likely to be involved in injury-causing crashes than for-hire drivers.
The report chooses to compare Waymo’s vehicles with for-hire drivers because New York City’s for-hire drivers are 14 times less likely to be involved in an accident than an average vehicle in the city, making them a more appropriate comparison.
However, while Waymo’s vehicles may be more likely to be in accidents involving serious injury or death than for-hire drivers, there is one key advantage to Waymo’s vehicles: they automatically remain on-site after an accident, reducing the possibility that they will cause a hit-and-run accident.
Waymo’s Safety Impact
Waymo’s vehicles have driven 220.6 million rider-only miles without human drivers through March 2026, according to Waymo. These miles have been driven in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Phoenix, Austin and Atlanta.
According to Waymo, Waymo’s vehicles, compared with average human drivers over the same distance in their operating cities, have been involved in:
- 94 percent fewer crashes involving serious injuries or worse
- 82 percent fewer crashes involving airbag deployment
- 82 percent fewer crashes involving injuries
- 93 percent fewer pedestrian crashes involving injuries
- 84 percent fewer cyclists crashes involving injuries
- 84 percent fewer motorcycle crashes involving injuries
However, these statistics don’t mean that Waymo’s vehicles haven’t had issues. In fact, Waymo recently had to recall almost its entire national fleet.
Waymo Recalled Almost Its Entire National Fleet over a Software Bug
Waymo, in June, recalled almost 3,900 U.S. robotaxis over a software issue which caused its vehicles to enter freeway construction zones that were closed.
The recall came after incidents in Arizona and California in which Waymo’s robotaxis drove past signs indicating ramp closure into freeway lanes with construction work and freeway construction zones. No injuries or crashes were reported in the incidents.
The company also had to recall almost all of its robotaxis in May due to an issue causing its vehicles to enter flooded roads. This recall happened after an incident in April where a Waymo vehicle drove into a flooded road in San Antonio and was swept away. No injuries occurred and the vehicle was unoccupied.
A similar recall happened after Waymo’s vehicles illegally passed stopped school buses in Atlanta and Austin.
CNN Report: Waymo Vehicles Struggle With Obstacles That Humans Handle Instinctively
A recent CNN report found that Waymo’s vehicles can struggle with obstacles that are instinctively handled by humans: they’ve ran red lights, came within inches of lawfully crossing pedestrians, ignored emergency road closures and drove into active crime scenes and oncoming traffic.
Waymo recently announced it was suspending freeway operations after a robotaxi led police on a high-speed chase through a highway construction zone.
The CNN report found that Waymo’s vehicles were probably not at fault in the vast majority of accidents, and that serious injuries did not occur in any of the collisions in which it appeared Waymo’s vehicles were responsible.
One accident described by CNN involved a San Francisco cyclist alleging she suffered spinal cord and brain injuries after hitting the door of a parked Waymo vehicle parked next to a no-stopping zone which was next to a bike lane. She alleges she then struck the side of another Waymo vehicle which was also blocking the bike lane.
