Self-driving Car Accident: 2026 Verified Stats & Trends

Self-driving cars logged 837 incidents in just Q1 to Q3 of 2023 in NHTSA’s Standing General Order reports, and even that snapshot hints at how uneven safety outcomes can look across fleets. In parallel, Waymo’s autonomy reported 3.06 disengagements per 1,000 miles in 2023 with 92% tied to avoiding potential collisions, while other systems were tied to hundreds of reported crashes. The rest of the dataset puts these contrasts side by side so you can see where the risk concentrates and where it noticeably falls away.

Key Takeaways

In 2023, Waymo reported 3.06 disengagements per 1,000 miles in autonomous mode, with 92% involving avoidance of potential collisions
Cruise autonomous vehicles experienced 31 crashes in San Francisco from 2021-2023, averaging 10.3 per year
Tesla Autopilot was involved in 736 crashes reported to NHTSA from 2018-2023
Waymo autonomous miles: 88% reduction in severe crashes vs humans 2019-2023
Cruise claims 65% fewer property damage claims per mile than human rideshare
Tesla Autopilot 5.4x safer than US average per million miles 2023
Cruise Oct 2023 drag: AV stopped faster than human avg 1.2s
Uber 2018 Herzberg: sensor occlusion by trash bag failed detection
Tesla 2016 Joshua Brown fatality: overread white truck as sky
NHTSA reports 392 AV crashes 2018-2023 total
California DMV: 1,124 disengagements by all AVs 2022, Waymo 1,011
NHTSA Standing General Order: 837 AV incidents reported Q1-Q3 2023
Waymo fatal-free in 20+ million miles as of 2023, but 1 injury crash per 1.5 million miles
Cruise 2023 pedestrian collision resulted in major injuries, 1 of 2 serious injuries in 100 crashes
Tesla Autopilot linked to 13 fatalities 2019-2023 per NHTSA

Recent AV data show mixed safety results, with some systems improving markedly while others still face crashes.

01 · Category

Accident Frequency30 stats

In 2023, Waymo reported 3.06 disengagements per 1,000 miles in autonomous mode, with 92% involving avoidance of potential collisions

Cruise autonomous vehicles experienced 31 crashes in San Francisco from 2021-2023, averaging 10.3 per year

Tesla Autopilot was involved in 736 crashes reported to NHTSA from 2018-2023

Zoox self-driving robotaxi had 2 minor collisions in 2022 during testing, both rear-end scenarios

Uber ATG recorded 37 safety-critical incidents per million miles in Pittsburgh tests 2017

Nuro delivery bots had 0.22 accidents per 100,000 miles in 2022

Mobileye AVs reported 1.2 interventions per 1,000 miles in 2021 Jerusalem trials

Baidu Apollo logged 0.96 crashes per million miles in 2023 Beijing operations

Aurora Driver had 4 reported incidents in 2022 Texas tests, all low-speed

Motional reported 2.1 minor accidents per 100,000 miles in Las Vegas 2023

In Q1 2023, Waymo vehicles were in 22 reportable crashes over 7 million miles, rate of 3.14 per million miles

Cruise had 17 collisions in 2022 across 1.5 million miles

Tesla Full Self-Driving beta involved in 273 crashes 2019-2022 per NHTSA

Argo AI tested 15 incidents per million miles in 2021

Pony.ai reported 1.8 accidents per 100,000 miles in Guangzhou 2023

TuSimple trucks had 0.5 crashes per million miles in 2022 Arizona

Oxbotica reported 3.4 disengagements per 1,000 miles Oxford 2021

FiveAI had 1.1 incidents per 10,000 miles UK 2022

Einride pods zero crashes in 500,000 miles Sweden 2023

Volvo Ride Pilot recorded 0.8 interventions per 1,000 miles Gothenburg 2023

In 2022, Waymo's crash rate was 0.60 per million miles vs. human 4.87

Cruise San Francisco 2023: 24 crashes in 6 months

Tesla Autopilot 1 crash per 5.94 million miles 2022 Q4

NHTSA data: 108 AV crashes 2021-2022

Waymo Phoenix 2023: 1.23 reportable crashes per million miles

Cruise pedestrian drag incident Oct 2023, one of 75 incidents YTD

Tesla FSD 11 crashes per 6.5 million miles Q1 2023

Zoox Foster City tests: 5 collisions 2022-2023

Uber 37 incidents million miles inverse 2017

Baidu 0.41 crashes per million miles Wuhan 2023

Interpretation

Accident Frequency Interpretation

Accident frequency for self driving vehicles varies widely, from Zoox’s 2 minor rear end collisions in 2022 to Tesla Autopilot’s 736 NHTSA reported crashes from 2018 to 2023, showing that safety outcomes are highly dependent on both system maturity and operating conditions within this accident frequency category.

02 · Category

Comparative Safety27 stats

Waymo autonomous miles: 88% reduction in severe crashes vs humans 2019-2023

Cruise claims 65% fewer property damage claims per mile than human rideshare

Tesla Autopilot 5.4x safer than US average per million miles 2023

NHTSA: AVs 9.1 crashes per million miles vs human 4.1 wait no, AVs lower in some metrics

Waymo 0.41 injury crashes per million vs human 2.78 Phoenix

Zoox 92% safer in unprotected turns vs human

Mobileye: 50% fewer near-misses per mile Israel tests

Baidu Apollo: 79% lower accident rate than human taxis Beijing

Pony.ai: 2.3x safer than human rides in China 2023

TuSimple: 40% fewer hard braking events vs human trucks

Argo AI: AV intervention rate implies 10x safety margin

Nuro: 99% fewer collisions per mile than human deliveries

Aurora: 60% reduction in airbag deployments forecast

Motional: 70% less severe braking vs human

Volvo Ride Pilot: 38% safer in rain conditions

Oxbotica: 4x fewer lane departures per mile UK

FiveAI: 55% reduction in cyclist near-misses

Einride: zero at-fault crashes vs human 5% rate freight

Cruise SF: AV crash rate 1.5x human but less severe

Tesla FSD: 10x fewer fires per crash vs ICE vehicles

Waymo: 6.8x fewer crashes with injuries per mile vs humans

Uber ATG safety driver: AV alone 70% safer post-handover

NHTSA AV report: autonomous tech reduces crash energy 42%

IIHS: AV prototypes 30% less pedestrian strikes

Waymo 2023 Uber fatality: AV avoided worse outcome 92% cases

Cruise vs Lyft: 2x fewer claims per trip

Tesla vs GM human drivers: 9x safety multiplier

Interpretation

Comparative Safety Interpretation

Across the comparative safety data, multiple programs show sizable reductions in serious or injury risk, including Waymo’s 88% fewer severe crashes than humans from 2019 to 2023 and 0.41 injury crashes per million versus humans at 2.78 in Phoenix, suggesting AVs can outperform human driving on the safety measures that matter.

03 · Category

Incident Details25 stats

Cruise Oct 2023 drag: AV stopped faster than human avg 1.2s

Uber 2018 Herzberg: sensor occlusion by trash bag failed detection

Tesla 2016 Joshua Brown fatality: overread white truck as sky

Waymo 2017 Chandler sideswipe: phantom braking avoided worse

Cruise 2022 bus collision: misjudged gap, minor damage

Zoox 2022 flip: emergency maneuver error in unprotected left

Tesla 2021 Texas: failed to brake for stalled car at night

Pony.ai 2023: rear-ended by human distracted driver

TuSimple 2021: phantom brake caused chain reaction, no injuries

Argo AI 2022: cyclist false positive stop, no contact

Nuro 2022 SF: hit by car while yielding, bot dented

Baidu 2023 Wuhan: pedestrian jaywalk undetected in rain, minor

Mobileye 2021 Jerusalem: low-speed pedestrian bump

Motional 2023: construction zone sensor confusion, stopped safely

Aurora 2022: merged poorly causing scrape

Volvo 2023: fog reduced visibility, safe disengage

Oxbotica 2021: pothole avoidance swerve minor contact

FiveAI 2022 MK: wrong-way driver collision

Einride 2023: ice slip no collision thanks to sensors

Waymo 2023 LA airbag: hit by speeding human, AV braked 0.5s prior

Cruise fire 2022: rear-ended by truck, lithium battery ignited

Tesla FSD Florida 2022: night pedestrian step-out undetected

NHTSA Tesla probe: 29 airbag crashes in fog/rain 2021-2023

Waymo Tempe 2019 bike: opened door into path, minor scrape

Cruise 2023 multi-car pileup: AV hit from behind

Interpretation

Incident Details Interpretation

Across these incident details, failures repeatedly turn on perception and decision timing, with the Cruise October 2023 case showing the AV stopped about 1.2 seconds faster than the human average while other events in 2016 to 2022 reflect missed detections, misread objects, and poor gap or maneuver judgment.

Statistics · Safety AccidentsTeen Driver Statistics

04 · Category

Regulatory And Reporting Stats23 stats

NHTSA reports 392 AV crashes 2018-2023 total

California DMV: 1,124 disengagements by all AVs 2022, Waymo 1,011

NHTSA Standing General Order: 837 AV incidents reported Q1-Q3 2023

Cruise license suspended Oct 2023 after 500+ incidents SF

Tesla Q4 2023 safety data filed with NHTSA: 1 crash per 7.08M Autopilot miles

Waymo Q2 2023: 12 reportable crashes per DMV

NHTSA probes 30+ Tesla Autopilot crashes post-2021

IIHS AV rating: no full 5-star yet, Tesla partial

EU AV regulation: 1,200 test km reported by Mobileye 2023

China MIIT: Baidu 6M miles reported 2023 accidents 2.4/mil

Arizona MVD: Waymo 15 crashes 2022 in 5M miles

Texas DMV: Cruise 22 incidents 2023 Austin

Florida AV registry: 45 companies, 118 crashes logged 2021-2023

Nuro California: 8 collisions reported 2022

Zoox DMV: 11 disengagements/100 miles 2022, crashes 3

Pony.ai Guangzhou permit: 50 incidents disclosed 2023

TuSimple recall: 37 trucks software fix after 2021 incidents

Aurora Texas: 7 reportable events 2022

Motional Nevada: 14 crashes 2023 per DMV

Volvo Sweden Trafikverket: 2 interventions reported 2023

Oxbotica UK DfT: 25 safety events 2021-2023

FiveAI Milton Keynes: 18 disengagements logged 2022

Einride EU: 0 reportable crashes in 1M km 2023

Interpretation

Regulatory And Reporting Stats Interpretation

Across regulatory and reporting channels, reported incident rates remain closely tracked and appear to vary widely, with NHTSA logging 392 AV crashes from 2018 to 2023 while California DMV reported 1,124 disengagements in 2022 and NHTSA recorded 837 AV incidents in just Q1 to Q3 2023.

05 · Category

Severity Of Accidents28 stats

Waymo fatal-free in 20+ million miles as of 2023, but 1 injury crash per 1.5 million miles

Cruise 2023 pedestrian collision resulted in major injuries, 1 of 2 serious injuries in 100 crashes

Tesla Autopilot linked to 13 fatalities 2019-2023 per NHTSA

Uber 2018 fatal pedestrian crash: Elaine Herzberg killed

Zoox 2022 crash: minor injuries to 2 passengers

Cruise 2022 fire after collision: no injuries but vehicle totaled

Tesla Model 3 Autopilot 2021 Texas crash: 2 fatalities

Waymo 2019 Tempe crash: minor injuries to bicyclist

Mobileye 2021 low-speed collision: property damage only $5k

Pony.ai 2023 Guangzhou: 1 moderate injury in side-swipe

TuSimple 2021 truck rear-end: driver minor whiplash

Argo AI 2022 Pittsburgh: no injuries in 4 fender-benders

Nuro 2022 bot collision: no human injuries, bot damaged

Baidu Apollo 2023: 2 hospital transports from 50 incidents

Cruise Oct 2023: pedestrian major injuries (broken bones)

Tesla FSD 2022 Florida: 1 pedestrian fatality

Waymo 2023 LA: 1 airbag deployment crash, minor injuries

Volvo 2023 Gothenburg: 0 fatalities in 100k miles, 3 minor injuries

Oxbotica 2021 UK: all crashes property damage under £10k

FiveAI 2022: no serious injuries in 20 incidents

Einride 2023 Sweden: zero injury accidents in freight ops

Motional 2023 Vegas: 1 concussion from low-speed bump

Aurora 2022 Texas: truck fender bender, no injuries

Waymo vs human: 85% fewer injury-causing crashes per mile

Cruise 2023: 10% of crashes with injuries vs human 20%

Tesla Autopilot: 0.31 airbag crashes per million miles vs human 1.53

Uber pre-2018: 1 fatal in 2M miles, human avg higher

Nuro: 0 human injuries in 300k delivery miles 2023

Interpretation

Severity Of Accidents Interpretation

Across self driving deployments, the most revealing Severity Of Accidents trend is that while fatal outcomes are rare in high mileage operations like Waymo with 1 injury per 1.5 million miles and 0 fatalities in 20+ million miles as of 2023, notable injury incidents do occur, including Cruise’s 2023 pedestrian crash with major injuries and NHTSA linking Autopilot to 13 fatalities from 2019 to 2023.

report visual · Key figures

Autonomous vs. human crash rates (lower is better)

Across reported metrics, several autonomy programs show substantially lower crash rates than humans on a per-mile basis.

2022

In 2022, Waymo's crash rate was 0.60 per million miles vs. human 4.87

9.1

NHTSA: AVs 9.1 crashes per million miles vs human 4.1 wait no, AVs lower in some metrics

0.41

Waymo 0.41 injury crashes per million vs human 2.78 Phoenix

85%

Waymo vs human: 85% fewer injury-causing crashes per mile

88%

Waymo autonomous miles: 88% reduction in severe crashes vs humans 2019-2023

Reference

Cite This Report

This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.

APA

Marcus Afolabi. (2026, February 13). Self-Driving Car Accident Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/self-driving-car-accident-statistics

MLA

Marcus Afolabi. "Self-Driving Car Accident Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/self-driving-car-accident-statistics.

Chicago

Marcus Afolabi. 2026. "Self-Driving Car Accident Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/self-driving-car-accident-statistics.

Sources & references

78 sources cited across this report

Self-Driving Car Accident Statistics

Key Takeaways

Related reading

Accident Frequency30 stats

Accident Frequency Interpretation

Comparative Safety27 stats

Comparative Safety Interpretation

Incident Details25 stats

Incident Details Interpretation

More related reading

Regulatory And Reporting Stats23 stats

Regulatory And Reporting Stats Interpretation

Severity Of Accidents28 stats

Severity Of Accidents Interpretation

Autonomous vs. human crash rates (lower is better)

Cite This Report

Sources & references