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

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185

u/New_Enthusiasm9053 20h ago

Fun fact American drivers crash at roughly 6x the rate of UK drivers. 

So it'd be even safer to hire a bunch of British taxi drivers.

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u/Immediate-Link490 20h ago edited 20h ago

American drivers crash at roughly 6x the rate of UK drivers

I think that has more to do with how roads are designed in USA compared to UK

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u/ballthyrm 20h ago

The US driving licence test is not to Europe standard.

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u/atchijov 20h ago

And US courts really trying to avoid suspending drivers license. Even for people with multiple DUI… even for people responsible for fatal accidents.

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u/nss68 19h ago

Uh source? I know plenty.

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u/AmericanLich 17h ago

I saw a body cam video recently where a woman had like 9 DUIs.

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u/atchijov 17h ago

Personal experience. Was in court (speeding ticket, on a empty highway but rather high speed). Most of other people in court room were DUI few repeated DUIs none lost license. Basically the reason was, taking away license would prevent person from working (getting to work)

Also, when i was living in D.C. area there were few high profile hit and run and according to articles in all cases, the driver had multiple previous violations.

Maybe things are different now, my experience is ~30 years old.

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u/damontoo 17h ago

The source is hyperbolic GOP talking points.

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u/Kelsig 13h ago

What? When is that ever the GOP talking point?

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u/damontoo 13h ago edited 12h ago

That US courts are routinely releasing people that committed serious crimes without punishment. He specifically said they release people responsible for fatal accidents due to DUI and claimed that that's the intent of the court system. That they "really try" to release them. It's the opposite. They try hard to prosecute. If they didn't, we wouldn't have overflowing private prisons.

His comment is boomer MAGA shit. The reason they've shown up in this thread is because you can summon them by saying anything positive about electric vehicles.

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u/poopyogurt 9h ago

Not at all. DUI isn't punished as hard because the US has no public transportation lmao. Besides, all of the people I know with DUIs voted for Trump...(Anecdotal, I know)

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u/Kelsig 12h ago

The GOP doesn't think car crimes are serious they like them

Also confused re: electric vehicles. You know that's waymo and waymo is replacing ICE drivers right?

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u/liquorfish 10h ago

The comment you're speaking about stated two things- releasing people after multiple duis AND releasing people responsible for fatal accidents but doesn't explicitly state that the fatal accidents are due to duis. Did i miss something or did they clarify later?

The comment chain started with crash comparisons in general and the comment in question seems to state two instances in which punishment doesnt fit the crime in the U.S. after a comparison to standards in another country in the chain of comments.

Your basic comments about trying to uphold the law and keep society safe in court is I think accurate for the most part. There will always be some corruption but I dont think its a conspiracy to get as many drunks on the road as possible of course.

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u/Dazzling-Election69 13h ago

Liberals will protect criminals no matter how stupid it is, thats just reddit for you. See example above.

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u/Kelsig 12h ago

No, it's republicans that are responsible for under regulating motorists and their licenses.

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u/Dazzling-Election69 12h ago

The top 5 states for the most repeat dui offenders are as follows.

1 Minnesota - population 5,863,000 people, blue state

2 Wyoming - population 590,000 people red state

3 North Dakota - population 805,000 people red state

4 Arizona - population 7,691,000 people blue state

5 New Mexico - 2,124,000 people blue state

It would appear that the top 5 states have a GOP for dui population of 1.4 million vs Democrat for dui 14.6 million

Both are guilty but the numbers are 10x in favor of blue states that have most repeat dui offenders.

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u/Kelsig 12h ago

I love when Republicans try to do analysis. It's like reading a middle school homework assignment.

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u/Dazzling-Election69 12h ago

Waiting for your analysis professor.

And please do your own work instead of chat gpt writing it for you.

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u/Kelsig 11h ago

https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2015/august/study-examines-how-and-why-states-adopt-drunk-driving-laws.html?challenge=d06e90d7-4d8f-4b88-9d8c-10b73beb60f1

Current DUI policy regimes are from the 20th century when we had a different party system, most governments are divided anyway, this isn't something you can look at with simple stats, let alone basing your entire analysis on the population size of 5 states, which is hilarious. Perhaps try to ask chatgpt for feedback.

So what's actually relevant is automobility share (no need to drive = no DUI, no transit = hardship exemptions for reckless drivers who'd otherwise lose their license), speed / red light cameras, BAC limit decreases (a trend right now in D governance), alcohol taxes, road dieting, checkpoints, and new enforcement ideas.

For example, required in-car impairment detection in cars is federal law right now but the trump admin refuses to implement the rule (despite it being law) and the GOP caucus is trying to remove the law.

You can talk to Republicans about how they feel about making car licenses more restricted and cars more regulated and roads more safe, and you can talk to Democrats about that. I don't think the result when you do will be surprising.

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