By Trent Victor, Director of Security Analysis & Finest 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 absolutely 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 autos geared up with superior driver help methods (ADAS).
The examine in contrast Waymo’s legal responsibility claims to human driver baselines, that are based mostly on Swiss Re’s knowledge 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 autos, 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 autos (2018-2021 fashions) geared up with trendy security expertise. This consists of superior driver help methods (ADAS) resembling automated emergency braking, ahead collision warning, lane retaining 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 influence knowledge, which signifies that over 25 million absolutely autonomous miles, the Waymo Driver had fewer critical collisions than human drivers, unbiased of who was at fault. This Swiss Re examine gives strong proof that Waymo had no accountability within the overwhelming majority of the collisions its autos have been concerned in.
“Auto insurance coverage claims knowledge, historically used to evaluate human driver legal responsibility and danger, is a robust instrument in evaluating the security efficiency of autonomous autos,” stated Mauricio Peña, Chief Security Officer at Waymo. “This can be a actually groundbreaking examine that not solely validates the Waymo Driver’s robust security report, but in addition gives a scalable framework for ongoing evaluation of the influence autonomous autos make on highway security.”
“Our analysis reveals how insurance coverage knowledge may help consider autonomous automobile security and supply the framework wanted to help widespread adoption,” stated Ali Shahkarami, International 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 situations. These promising outcomes assist underscore the potential of this expertise to create a safer future for our roads.”
This Swiss Re examine gives precious 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 may solely be achieved by way of schooling and the sharing of information,” stated Chris Moore, President of Apollo ibott, a Lloyd’s of London Syndicate. “This explicit report offered a staggering benchmark in a 90% decrease claims frequency in comparison with human driving of newer autos with essentially the most superior driving help expertise. We extremely commend Waymo for this work and stay up for 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 convey 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 offered right here.
About Waymo
Waymo is an autonomous driving expertise firm with a mission to make it protected and simple for individuals 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 hundreds of lives now misplaced to site visitors crashes. The Waymo Driver powers Waymo One, the world’s first absolutely driverless ride-hailing service, in addition to Waymo Through, our trucking and native supply service. To this point, 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 without doubt one of 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 purpose of the Swiss Re Group is to allow society to thrive and progress, creating new alternatives and options for its shoppers. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, the place it was based in 1863, the Swiss Re Group operates by way of a community of round 80 workplaces globally. For extra info, please go to www.swissre.com.
Supply: Waymo
