GoKawiilis transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State.
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Waymo says its autonomous vehicles have now traveled over 170 million miles while continuing to avoid serious crashes and injuries at a rate much better than human drivers. The company updated its online safety hub to reflect the new driving figures.
As of December 2025, Waymo’s fleet has driven the equivalent of “200 lifetimes of driving,” assuming every human drives the equivalent of 850,000 miles in their lifetime. But unlike those pesky humans, the Waymo Driver — which is what the company calls the combination of AI, software, and various sensors that enable its vehicles to drive autonomously — is much better at avoiding serious crashes and injuries. How much better? Waymo says its vehicles are involved in:
92 percent fewer crashes causing serious injuries or worse
83 percent fewer crashes triggering an airbag deployment
82 percent fewer crashes involving any injury at all
Waymo says that its current scale — approximately 3,000 vehicles across 10 cities, driving over 4 million miles per week — it theoretically is “preventing approximately one serious-injury crash every 8 days.” This bolsters the company’s case that autonomous vehicles can help make driving safer for everyone.
There are still incidents, including a recent one in which a Waymo vehicle struck a child outside a school in Santa Monica. The robotaxi was traveling about 17mph when it braked and struck the child near the front-right headlight, according to a preliminary investigation. Waymo said its vehicle slowed to approximately 6mph right before striking the child, who reported only minor injuries. The case is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The incident came after NTSB said it would also open an investigation into incidents of Waymo robotaxis driving past school buses engaged in student pickups and drop-offs in Austin, Texas. Waymo issued a safety recall in December 2025 that was meant to address this issue, but additional incidents were subsequently reported.
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