Waymo's Driverless Cars Are Apparently an Insurance Company's Dream

A study conducted by Swiss Re, a reinsurer, found that Waymo's autonomous vehicles have significantly fewer property damage and bodily injury claims compared to human-driven cars. The study analyzed liability claims from collisions covering 25.3 million miles driven by Waymo's autonomous cars. The results were compared to human driver baselines based on data from over 500,000 claims and over 200 billion driving miles. According to the study, Waymo's autonomous vehicles demonstrated better safety performance when compared to human-driver vehicles. The study found that cars operated by Alphabet's Waymo Driver resulted in 88 percent fewer property damage claims and 92 percent fewer bodily injury claims. Swiss Re also created a new metric to compare Waymo Driver against newer vehicles with advanced safety tech. This comparison included features like driver assistance, automated emergency braking, and blind spot warning systems. Using this new metric, Waymo still showed a significant reduction in claims, with an 86 percent reduction in property damage claims and a 90 percent reduction in bodily damage claims. The study's findings suggest that autonomous vehicles like those operated by Waymo may be safer than human-driven cars, even when compared to newer vehicles with advanced safety features. Overall, the study provides evidence that autonomous vehicles can significantly reduce the number of accidents and resulting claims on the road.