By Trent Victor, Director of Security Analysis & Greatest Practices, Waymo —
We’re happy to share new cutting-edge analysis with Swiss Re, one of many world’s main reinsurers, analyzing legal responsibility claims associated to collisions from 25.3 million totally autonomous miles pushed by Waymo. The examine makes use of auto legal responsibility claims mixture statistics as a proxy for at-fault collisions and expands on our earlier analysis. It demonstrates that as we’ve scaled operations throughout Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin, the Waymo Driver considerably outperforms each the general driving inhabitants and the newest technology of human-driven automobiles outfitted with superior driver help programs (ADAS).
The examine in contrast Waymo’s legal responsibility claims to human driver baselines, that are based mostly on Swiss Re’s information from over 500,000 claims and over 200 billion miles of publicity. It discovered that the Waymo Driver demonstrated higher security efficiency when in comparison with human-driven automobiles, with an 88% discount in property injury claims and 92% discount in bodily harm claims. In actual numbers, throughout 25.3 million miles, the Waymo Driver was concerned in simply 9 property injury claims and two bodily harm claims. Each bodily harm claims are nonetheless open and described within the paper. For a similar distance, human drivers could be anticipated to have 78 property injury and 26 bodily harm claims.
Notably, the Waymo Driver’s security benefits maintain true even when in comparison with newer automobiles (2018-2021 fashions) outfitted with trendy security expertise. This contains superior driver help programs (ADAS) reminiscent of automated emergency braking, ahead collision warning, lane protecting help, and blind spot warning. When in comparison with this group, the Waymo Driver confirmed an 86% discount in property injury claims and 90% discount in bodily harm claims.
This evaluation enhances our security impression information, which signifies that over 25 million totally autonomous miles, the Waymo Driver had fewer critical collisions than human drivers, unbiased of who was at fault. This Swiss Re examine offers sturdy proof that Waymo had no duty within the overwhelming majority of the collisions its automobiles had been concerned in.
“Auto insurance coverage claims information, historically used to evaluate human driver legal responsibility and danger, is a robust instrument in evaluating the security efficiency of autonomous automobiles,” mentioned Mauricio Peña, Chief Security Officer at Waymo. “It is a really groundbreaking examine that not solely validates the Waymo Driver’s sturdy security file, but in addition offers a scalable framework for ongoing evaluation of the impression autonomous automobiles make on street security.”
“Our analysis reveals how insurance coverage information will help consider autonomous automobile security and supply the framework wanted to assist widespread adoption,” mentioned Ali Shahkarami, World Head P&C Options at Swiss Re. “By analyzing a bigger dataset throughout a number of cities, we deepened our understanding of how this expertise performs in real-world circumstances. These promising outcomes assist underscore the potential of this expertise to create a safer future for our roads.”
This Swiss Re examine offers useful insights for the broader insurance coverage trade. “It’s nice to see Waymo inserting such an emphasis on the significance of public acceptance of Autonomous Driving System expertise, and we agree this will solely be achieved by means of training and the sharing of information,” mentioned Chris Moore, President of Apollo ibott, a Lloyd’s of London Syndicate. “This specific report offered a staggering benchmark in a 90% decrease claims frequency in comparison with human driving of newer automobiles with essentially the most superior driving help expertise. We extremely commend Waymo for this work and look ahead to future examine releases as we proceed to maneuver to an autonomous way forward for transportation.”
We’re proud to share these outcomes as a part of our ongoing dedication to transparency and rigorous analysis. As we proceed to increase operations and produce the advantages of autonomous driving to extra communities, we stay centered on our mission of enhancing transportation security and mobility for everybody.
The paper has been submitted to a scientific journal, and the pre-print is obtainable right here.
About Waymo
Waymo is an autonomous driving expertise firm with a mission to make it protected and simple for folks and issues to get the place they’re going. Since our begin because the Google Self-Driving Automotive Challenge in 2009, Waymo has been centered on constructing the World’s Most Skilled Driver to enhance the world’s entry to mobility whereas saving 1000’s of lives now misplaced to site visitors crashes. The Waymo Driver powers Waymo One, the world’s first totally driverless ride-hailing service, in addition to Waymo By way of, our trucking and native supply service. Up to now, Waymo has pushed over 20 million miles autonomously on public roads throughout 25 U.S. cities and pushed over 15 billion miles in simulation. For extra info, please go to www.waymo.com.
About Swiss Re
The Swiss Re Group is among the world’s main suppliers of reinsurance, insurance coverage and different types of insurance-based danger switch, working to make the world extra resilient. It anticipates and manages danger – from pure catastrophes to local weather change, from ageing populations to cyber crime. The intention of the Swiss Re Group is to allow society to thrive and progress, creating new alternatives and options for its purchasers. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, the place it was based in 1863, the Swiss Re Group operates by means of a community of round 80 places of work globally. For extra info, please go to www.swissre.com.
Supply: Waymo
