Waymo Robotaxis Crashed 68% Less Than Human Drivers in Three Major Cities, Study Finds— But One City Bucked the TrendBenzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below.Alphabet Inc.-backed Waymo robotaxis recorded 68% fewer police-reportable crashes per mile than human drivers across four U.S. markets, an independent study found, though Austin emerged as the only city where the autonomous fleet posted a higher rate.Waymo Outperforms Humans In Three CitiesThe Insurance Institute for Highway Safety analyzed about 50 million fully driverless Waymo miles logged from 2021 through 2024 in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin, comparing them with roughly 222 billion human-driven miles in the same places and years.AdvertisementAdvertisementDon't Miss:A single bad hire can set a startup back years. Here are the 5 hires founders most often misjudge — and whyStill Learning the Market? These 50 Must-Know Terms Can Help You Catch Up FastWaymo's crash rate came in 76% below human drivers in Phoenix, 71% lower in Los Angeles and 35% lower in San Francisco. Austin's rate was 4% higher, but lead researcher Eric Teoh said the smaller sample prevented a firm conclusion."What we're seeing is a nice pattern — fewer crashes overall, less egregious types of crashes, and less severe crashes," Teoh said in a press release.The study found 81% fewer injury crashes and 85% fewer single-vehicle crashes per mile. Waymo vehicles were also 91% less likely to rear-end another vehicle and 40% less likely to be rear-ended.AdvertisementAdvertisementWaymo welcomed the analysis. "More high-quality data is fundamental for building public trust in this technology and ultimately making roads safer for everyone," the company said in a statement shared with ABC News.Trending: Avoid the #1 Investing Mistake: How Your 'Safe' Holdings Could Be Costing You Big TimeCritics Say Crash Data Misses RisksStill, the results do not settle every safety question. San Jose State University professor Ahmed Banafa said crash data can miss unsafe behavior that does not end in a collision, pointing to recent San Francisco robotaxi gridlock."They have to be open about everything, the good and the bad and the ugly," Banafa said.AdvertisementAdvertisementIIHS raised similar reporting concerns. Researchers manually reviewed federal crash narratives to determine which incidents a typical driver would report to police, a process the institute said would become impractical as fleets grow. NHTSA requires automated-driving operators to report certain crashes, but IIHS said national mileage and incident data need greater consistency.See Also: Skip the Regrets: The Essential Retirement Tips Experts Wish Everyone Knew Earlier.Federal Investigations Keep Scrutiny On WaymoWaymo also remains under federal scrutiny. NHTSA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating a Waymo vehicle that struck a child near a California school and reports of robotaxis passing stopped school buses in Austin.Tesla Inc., another major player in the autonomous driving space, has also been advancing its robotaxi ambitions but has recently taken a more cautious approach to deployment. The company has scaled back aspects of its rollout timeline to prioritize safety improvements and system reliability, reflecting broader industry pressure to demonstrate robust safeguards before expanding fully driverless services.AdvertisementAdvertisementBenzinga edge rankings indicate that GOOG stock has a Momentum score in the 87th percentile and a Growth score in the 89th percentile.Image via ShutterstockRead Next: Think you're saving enough for your kids? You might be dangerously off — see whyBuilding Wealth Across More Than Just the MarketBuilding a resilient portfolio means thinking beyond a single asset or market trend. Economic cycles shift, sectors rise and fall, and no one investment performs well in every environment. That's why many investors look to diversify with platforms that provide access to real estate, fixed-income opportunities, precious metals, and even self-directed retirement accounts. 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