Feds are investigating Waymo driverless cars after reports of crashes, traffic violations

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Waymo, the autonomous driving company owned by Alphabet Inc., is under investigation by federal safety regulators for reported crashes and traffic violations involving its driverless cars, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced this week.

The agency has initiated a preliminary evaluation of Waymo following reports of nearly two dozen incidents where a Waymo vehicle was the sole operator involved in a collision or allegedly violated traffic laws.

According to the notice posted on Tuesday, 17 of these incidents involved crashes or fires. No injuries have been reported in connection with these incidents.

Waymo Collisions with Parked Vehicles, Gates, and More

NHTSA is specifically investigating Waymo’s 5th-generation vehicles. The reports include collisions with stationary and semi-stationary objects like gates and chains, collisions with parked vehicles, and instances where the automated driving system (ADS) appeared to disobey traffic control devices.

The notice states that Waymo submitted incident reports involving crashes to NHTSA, while other incidents were identified through publicly available reports. These include situations where vehicles were driving in opposing lanes with oncoming traffic or entering construction zones.

According to the notice, after an initial assessment of these incidents, NHTSA has determined that in each case, the Waymo Automated Driving System (ADS) was either active throughout the incident or, in specific instances where an in-vehicle test driver was present, the ADS disengaged shortly before the incident occurred.

‘We Are Proud of Our Performance’

Waymo released data in December 2023 indicating that its vehicles avoid injury-causing collisions better than human drivers. According to its research, which was peer-reviewed by external experts, Waymo vehicles were involved in 0.4 injury-causing collisions per million miles driven, compared to 2.78 injury-causing crashes per million miles driven by humans.

In a statement reported by the Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network, a Waymo spokesperson expressed pride in the company’s safety record.

The statement from Waymo highlighted their provision of more than 50,000 weekly trips to riders in demanding and intricate settings. It underscored their satisfaction with their performance and safety track record across tens of millions of autonomous miles traveled, along with their commitment to transparent safety practices. Waymo also emphasized the vital role played by NHTSA in road safety and pledged ongoing collaboration with them as they strive to establish themselves as the most trusted driver worldwide.