Safety

Explore our Safety Case Framework

Our Approach to Safety

The data to date shows Waymo is already making streets safer in the cities where we operate. Backed by industry-leading safety practices, the Waymo Driver is always alert, follows speed limits, promotes seat belt use, and operates some of the safest vehicles on the road. We are committed to driving real progress toward what many cities are striving for: Vision Zero, the global effort to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries.

Our progress is guided by Waymo's Safety Framework — a set of methodologies that detail how we approach safety on a daily basis. To make sure this framework fulfills its function credibly, it is meticulously documented and pressure-tested by our Safety Case.

Explore our safety dashboard

Because Safety is Urgent™

At Waymo, we believe the status quo of road safety is unacceptable. Autonomous driving technology can save lives and improve mobility for all.

1.19M
deaths worldwide due to vehicle crashes each year
42,514
deaths in the U.S. in 2022 and 2.5 million injuries
$836B
in harm from loss of life and injury each year
50M
injuries worldwide due to vehicle crashes each year

Making roads safer for all, today

Compared to an average human driver over the same distance in our operating cities, the Waymo Driver had

Overall crash reduction

92% Fewer serious injury or worse crashes (35 fewer)
83% Fewer airbag deployment in any vehicle crashes (230 fewer)
82% Fewer injury-causing crashes (544 fewer)

Crash reductions involving injuries to Vulnerable Road Users

92% Fewer pedestrian crashes with injuries (62 fewer)
85% Fewer cyclist crashes with Injuries (39 fewer)
81% Fewer motorcycle crashes with injuries (25 fewer)

Explore more in our safety dashboard

The World’s Most Experienced Driver™

Tens of thousands of happy riders.
On a weekly basis, we serve tens of thousands of riders across Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay, Los Angeles, Austin, and Atlanta.
Safer than human-driven vehicles.
With 92% fewer bodily injury claims and 88% fewer property damage claims over 25 million miles, Swiss Re (one of the world’s leading reinsurers) concluded that Waymo is significantly safer than human-driven vehicles.
Over a decade of experience.
We were born as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009, and served the first of many fully autonomous rides in 2015.
A hundred million miles.
We have over 100 million miles of real-world driving experience — that’s enough to drive to the Moon and back 200 times.

Committed to Vision Zero

Top-Rated on the FIA Road Safety Index

Waymo’s ride-hailing service received a 3-star rating (the highest possible) on the FIA Road Safety Index. The FIA Road Safety Index rates an organization’s current traffic safety performance and safety footprint. A top rating signifies that Waymo’s service follows best practices to achieve Vision Zero goals, like using the safest vehicles, requiring seat belt use, and having policies to follow the speed limit.

Starting with the safest vehicles

Waymo builds its service on some of the safest vehicle platforms, each rigorously tested and awarded top ratings in crashworthiness evaluations, including protection provided by airbags, seat belts, and crash structures.

Improving Road Safety Today

Some of the most impactful safety measures are also the simplest – consistently obeying speed limits and ensuring seatbelt use. A driver like the Waymo Driver that is always alert, does not speed, requires seat belts, and uses the newest vehicles can eliminate a majority of serious injuries. Combined with Waymo’s safety research and robust safety framework, the data indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where we currently operate.

Read our research.

The Vision Zero Network is a collaborative campaign to help communities reach their goals of Vision Zero — eliminating all traffic fatalities and severe injuries — while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. The U.S. Department of Transportation National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS) marks a critical step toward an ambitious long-term goal of reaching zero traffic fatalities on American roads. Waymo supports the NRSS by advancing Safer Vehicles and Safer Speeds through the research and deployment of its fully autonomous ride-hailing service, Waymo.