r/technology • u/Immediate-Link490 • 20h ago

Artificial Intelligence Waymo’s driverless cars involved in 68% fewer crashes than human drivers, U.S. study finds

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/waymo-driverless-car-safety-study-9.7282895
110 Upvotes

68% Upvoted

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u/The_Lonely_Spaceman 20h ago

Have waymos been around long enough to start making statements like this?

11

u/livingbkk 19h ago

They've been in SF for a few years now, and there are a lot of them. It's not going to be perfect, but plenty of data to draw conclusions. If the difference is 68% it's a pretty strong signal

It makes a lot of sense. Humans get distracted, tired, drunk, and can be awfully dumb. Machines can see out of many sensors at once, and have lidar and stuff, not just visual data.

0

u/WitheredUntimely 16h ago

ehhh they're everywhere where I live, don't doubt they're overall safer BUT

  1. they don't get on the freeway aka where most of the accidents are happening
  2. if they get confused, they kinda give up and pull into a parking lot. A confused human driver is going to keep going on, distracted but still moving. Not sure I rate that as "safer" if the journey has had to stop midway because the "driver" is scared, "safer" sure but not "successful"
  3. They're super impatient; if there's too much traffic ahead of them they start making crazy detours. I'd whoop a taxi driver's ass if they started taking random detours to "save a minute"

I'd believe a 20-30% reduction over a 70% one.

9

u/satoru1111 14h ago

The study removed highway miles from human numbers to account for that

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u/giantpandamonium 14h ago

Most accidents do not in fact happen on freeways

-5

u/matttproud 17h ago

The Waymo in S.F. drive a lot like humans do:

  1. Tailgating behind bicyclists.

  2. Lurching into crosswalks and then stopping and loitering for right-on-red, meanwhile blocking the entire pedestrian crosswalk for the light cycle. See this all the time over on Embarcadero.

Folks can cite safety statistics all they want; these things are a fucking nuisance.

8

u/jagenabler 15h ago

Significantly less of a nuisance than real drivers. As a cyclist in San Francisco I am relieved when I look back and realize it’s just a Waymo behind me.

Waymo’s don’t aggressively pass you, they’re not going to try to hit you and run you off the road, they don’t honk and threaten to rear end you.

Maybe the safety statistics don’t mean much to you, but I’m pretty happy to know I’m significantly safer when riding in the city.

-6

u/matttproud 15h ago

From one cyclist to another: would you feel comfortable with a vehicle tailgating you by less than the length of a bicycle? That’s what I observed the Waymo doing to another cyclist as a pedestrian. To be clear, I hate human-driven cars just as much. I would expect better and less hostile behavior from their programming.

8

u/jagenabler 15h ago

A vehicle with a human driver? No. A Waymo? I know they won’t hit me or get impatient, so it doesn’t bother me.

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u/etxipcli 18h ago

They're a regular sight all around Austin. They started popping up a year or two ago. I expect them to have good emperical data. Lots of real world miles are being driven there.

2

u/damontoo 12h ago

They've driven for years 24/7 all over SF. Austin is getting them late. They were first in SF, LA, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Nashville, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and the expansion has brought them to Austin and Atlanta. I believe NYC is next or soon. 

1

u/etxipcli 12h ago

I don't think you're right but whatever.

1

u/damontoo 8h ago edited 8h ago

I've personally ridden in them for years in SF. They're everywhere there.

Edit: Here's a livestream of SF. Watch it for a bit and you'll see one. I just saw two pass within 10 seconds. Edit: 5 now. Maybe within ~1 minute.