The US has published 2 reports that for the first time highlight crashes and fatalities involving autonomous vehicles (AVs) and vehicles equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). As it turns out, Tesla leads in the number of reported accidents involving driver-assistance technologies, and Waymo has reported the most incidents involving autonomous vehicles.
Last year, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a standing order requiring car companies to report accidents involving autonomous vehicles and vehicles equipped with Level 2 assistance systems. The agency required companies to document accidents when ADAS and automated technologies were used.
It should be recognized that the data obtained are limited. They include the number of incident notifications but lack other key details such as the number of vehicles produced, the number of vehicles in operation, and the distances traveled by those vehicles. Companies may rely on different criteria when reporting incidents. For example, some automakers receive crash reports through vehicle telemetry, while other companies are forced to rely on unverified customer claims. That is why officials warn against drawing conclusions based only on the figures from the reports.
Tesla’s numbers were much higher, most likely due to the fact that it sells more cars equipped with Level 2 systems than its competitors. In addition, Tesla collects telemetry data from its customers in real time, which greatly speeds up the reporting process. Other automakers usually have to wait for field reports and sometimes not receive them for months.
According to the report, from July 20, 2021 to May 21, 2022, there were 392 accidents of vehicles with ADAS systems. At the same time, 273 cases were in Tesla electric vehicles using Autopilot. Honda, which offers ADAS features under the Honda Sensing brand, has reported 90 accidents. In third place was Subaru (EyeSigh features) with 10 accidents. Out of 392 accident reports, only 98 contained information on the severity of the consequences. During the reporting period, there were 6 accidents with serious injuries and 5 deaths. The NHTSA did not release information about the automakers that reported the deaths. Of the 392 accidents, 119 involved another vehicle. Four crashes involved “vulnerable road users”, three of whom were pedestrians and one was a cyclist.
NHTSA received notifications from 25 companies about 130 accidents involving autonomous vehicles. These are test vehicles or fleet vehicles, not models sold to general consumers. Waymo (an Alphabet subsidiary) reported 62 accidents. Transdev Alternative Services, which operates unmanned shuttles, reported 34 accidents. At the same time, Cruise (a subsidiary of GM) reported 23 accidents. Of all 130 accidents, only one led to serious injuries. There were no dead.
Note that the highest rates were in companies that test self-driving cars more than others. Waymo and Cruise account for most of the miles driven by autonomous test vehicles in California. Waymo said its cars have driven 2.3 million miles (3.7 million km) in 2021, while Cruise has 876.1 thousand miles (1.4 million km). At the same time, Waymo claims that it has a better safety record than most other companies that operate self-driving cars.
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Source: The Verge
