What happens if a Waymo is to blame for a crash?

Phoenix (Azfamilie) – After a few tight calls with driverless Waymos on the streets of Arizona, the Arizona family set out to answer a simple question: How often do autonomous vehicles have in the event of accidents – and if they are, can they get a ticket?

The answer is not easy to find.

Federal crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show that Waymo vehicles were involved in at least 202 accidents in Arizona between 2021 and 2024, which ranged from small scratches and doors to 31 accidents that led to injuries. However, the records are greatly reduced and do not indicate who was to blame.

The von Arizona family spent six months to collect and check police reports on Waymo crashes in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Chandler, Mesa and Temples. Of the 71 police documents in the police, the officials found that the self -driving car was not to blame for 87% of cases. In 13% of cases, the police accused the Waymo vehicle.

“This is a computer”

One of these cases concerned Jaafar Yaseen, who said that a Waymo crossed its vehicle in the old town of Scottsdale in October 2024. “It's scary,” said Yaseen. “Especially when I saw it is Waymo. This is a computer. This is not a human being. This is AI. It somehow frightened me.”

The Waymo, who was wearing a passenger, crossed the wrong track and, according to the police report and photos from the scene, scratched the driver's side of Yaaseen's car before holding the road down a short piece. Photos show that the autonomous vehicle is stopped in the wrong track.

“Do you think a human driver would have done that?” I asked Yaseen. “Of course not,” he replied. “Especially in an overcrowded situation like this. I will call it ruthlessly.”

Waymo started the world's first self -driving hail service in Arizona at the end of 2020. Since then, the research of the company Waymo vehicles on 81% fewer injury accidents and 88% fewer claims for property damage than human drivers has shown. “Collisions will and can occur, and we are absolutely ready to react to them,” said Camille Dredge, Senior Director of Waymos Senior Director from Hageling Operations.

However, the research of Waymo and the analysis of the family in Arizona contained no cases in which a confused Waymo caused other vehicles to crash and the Waymo car was not touched. We found at least one example of this in October near the 54th Street and the Chandler Road in Chandler.

Can Waymo cars get a traffic embroidery?

Arizona's family also discovered cases in which Waymo vehicles had behaved as the officials believed to justify a quote. In 2021, Joel Caspers became behind a Waymo while he was on the Chandler Boulevard for a red light. “It has the car as a whole,” said Caspers. “You must have made 30 [mph]It seemed like because it threw us in the center of the intersection. “

The investigative officer wrote: “At that time, [the Waymo] No quote was issued because the Waymo was in autonomous mode and there was no person in the vehicle at the time of the crash. ”

“I thought they had issued a ticket to the handler or the company,” said Caspers. “Someone should have got something.”

Last June, Body-Camera video captured a Phoenix police officer who overtaken a Waymo after it merges into oncoming traffic near a construction zone. The official did not give a quote and instead spoke to the Rider Support team from Waymo. “There is a bit of construction area and it went into the opposing traces of traffic, which is really bad,” says the official in the body cama film material.

When asked whether it is fair that Waymo cars cannot receive quotes such as human drivers, said Dredge that the company had complied with the traffic laws and received parking quotes in the past. “If the vehicle was run over, there would be a safe place and in this way interact with the law enforcement authorities,” she said.

Ultimately, quotes should change driver behavior. Waymo can change the behavior of its vehicles by updating its software, and the company has shown that it can push corrections out in a few weeks.

In December 2023, two Waymos plunged into a vehicle under the towing into the vicinity of Van Buren and the 36th Street. Waymo spent a software recall and started a solution within nine days. The update was pushed to the full fleet in a month.

Another incident in which in May 2024 a Waymo near the Seventh Avenue and the Roosevelt Street in Phoenix met near the Seventh Avenue and the Roosevelt Street triggered a software update in the full fleet of Waymo 672 vehicles within 16 days.

Nevertheless, fast software corrections are not sufficient for crash victims such as Caspers and Yaseen. “I don't think it's still finished,” said Yaseen. “You are certainly not ready yet. I mean, I feel dangerous.”

What to do if you collide with a Waymo

According to Arizona Law, it is a crime to leave the place of a crash without exchanging information, including a collision with an autonomous vehicle. According to Dredge, drivers who are involved in a collision with a Waymo vehicle can contact the company's support team in various ways.

After the drivers have driven to a safe place, the drivers should visit Waymo.com/notify, where they can either call emergency support or fill out a form to exchange insurance information.

If a driver has no access to a telephone or the Internet, he can wait with the vehicle for the road aid team from Waymo. DREDED added that Waymo vehicles are equipped with speakers that can connect directly to customer support.

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