By Trent Victor, Director of Security Analysis & Greatest Practices, Waymo —
We’re happy to share new cutting-edge research 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 combination statistics as a proxy for at-fault collisions and expands on our previous research. 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 most recent technology of human-driven autos outfitted with superior driver help methods (ADAS).
The examine in contrast Waymo’s legal responsibility claims to human driver baselines, that are primarily based 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 autos, with an 88% discount in property harm claims and 92% discount in bodily damage claims. In actual numbers, throughout 25.3 million miles, the Waymo Driver was concerned in simply 9 property harm claims and two bodily damage claims. Each bodily damage claims are nonetheless open and described within the paper. For a similar distance, human drivers could be anticipated to have 78 property harm and 26 bodily damage claims.
Notably, the Waymo Driver’s security benefits maintain true even when in comparison with newer autos (2018-2021 fashions) outfitted with fashionable security know-how. This contains superior driver help methods (ADAS) corresponding to 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 harm claims and 90% discount in bodily damage claims.
This evaluation enhances our safety impact 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 autos had been concerned in.
“Auto insurance coverage claims information, historically used to evaluate human driver legal responsibility and danger, is a robust device in evaluating the security efficiency of autonomous autos,” mentioned Mauricio Peña, Chief Security Officer at Waymo. “This can be a actually groundbreaking examine that not solely validates the Waymo Driver’s robust security file, but additionally offers a scalable framework for ongoing evaluation of the influence autonomous autos make on street security.”
“Our analysis exhibits how insurance coverage information might help consider autonomous automobile security and supply the framework wanted to help widespread adoption,” mentioned 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 know-how performs in real-world circumstances. These promising outcomes assist underscore the potential of this know-how to create a safer future for our roads.”
This Swiss Re examine offers helpful insights for the broader insurance coverage business. “It’s nice to see Waymo inserting such an emphasis on the significance of public acceptance of Autonomous Driving System know-how, and we agree this could solely be achieved via schooling and the sharing of knowledge,” 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 autos with probably the most superior driving help know-how. 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 broaden operations and produce the advantages of autonomous driving to extra communities, we stay targeted 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 here.
About Waymo
Waymo is an autonomous driving know-how 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 targeted 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 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. Thus far, 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 goal 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 via a community of round 80 places of work globally. For extra info, please go to www.swissre.com.
Supply: Waymo
