OPINION

Have you ever wondered whether self-driving cars are truly safe? In 2020, engineers in Phoenix took this question to a whole new level with the introduction of Waymo cars—self-driving taxis that need no human driver, only passengers. With just a request, they’ll take you wherever you want to go. While this may seem exciting at first, it raises an important question: Are these cars actually safe? Waymos have avoided many accidents thanks to their quick reaction times. However, they also have a reputation for occasionally failing to obey traffic laws.

Waymo is a business within Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company. The company has expanded its service from Phoenix to San Francisco and Los Angeles, and it is currently being tested in New York City. For Waymo to operate legally in New York, the state would have to change an existing law requiring a human driver to be present in every moving vehicle. Waymo is also looking to expand to Miami, Washington, D.C., San Diego, Las Vegas, and Detroit. 

There have been some minor incidents involving these vehicles. For example, The New York Times reported that in September 2025, a Waymo was pulled over for making an illegal U-turn—but there was no driver to receive the ticket. In another case, a Waymo vehicle crashed into a pole while driving to pick up a passenger. And in San Francisco, several Waymos were found honking at each other in a parking lot at 3 a.m. Most of these incidents occurred at very low speeds—typically under one mph. 

Despite these occurrences, Waymo cars significantly reduce crashes involving pedestrians (by 92%) and cyclists or motorcyclists (by 82%) compared to human drivers, according to a peer-reviewed study conducted by Swiss Re, one of the world’s leading insurance companies. Their research shows strong evidence that Waymo’s autonomous technology is much safer overall than human driving. 

People continue to debate whether self-driving cars are safe, but overall, Waymos appear to outperform human drivers, with most reported accidents being minor and happening at extremely low speeds.