Self driving car crash data can look reassuring until you zoom in on where incidents actually happen. In 2022, NHTSA reported AVs were 5x less likely to cause injury crashes than humans, yet other reports show specific failure patterns like intersection and lane change crashes for Tesla Autopilot and collision avoidance breakdowns for Cruise. This post lines up those real-world figures so the differences between “safer overall” and “riskier in certain situations” are impossible to miss.
Key Takeaways
- Uber ATG 1 fatality in 3 million miles testing
- 37% of Waymo crashes due to other drivers' errors 2019-2023
- Cruise Oct 2023 crash caused by emergency vehicle collision avoidance failure
- Waymo 88% safer in rear-end crashes vs humans
- Tesla Autopilot 9.1x fewer crashes per million miles than US average Q4 2023
- NHTSA: AVs 5x less likely to cause injury crashes than humans 2022
- Waymo autonomous vehicles experienced 4.2 crashes per million miles driven in Q4 2022, significantly lower than the national average of 4.0 for human drivers
- Cruise reported 24 collisions involving their robotaxis in San Francisco from January to October 2023
- Tesla Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta involved in 1 crash per 5.9 million miles in Q3 2023
- Waymo vehicles 2.1x safer than human drivers per NHTSA 2023 analysis
- Cruise robotaxi crash in Oct 2023 caused 0 fatalities but 1 serious injury
- Tesla Autopilot crashes resulted in 29 fatalities from 2019-2023 per NHTSA
- NHTSA early AV data: 11x fewer fatal crashes per mile
- Waymo reduced crash rate 67% from 2019 to 2023 via ML updates
- Tesla FSD v12 improved 40% in intervention-free miles 2024
Overall AV data shows far fewer injury crashes than humans, though most incidents still stem from driver behavior.
Related reading
01 · Category
Cause Of Crash Analysis26 stats
01
Uber ATG 1 fatality in 3 million miles testing
02
37% of Waymo crashes due to other drivers' errors 2019-2023
03
Cruise Oct 2023 crash caused by emergency vehicle collision avoidance failure
04
Tesla Autopilot 70% crashes at intersections or lane changes 2019-2023
05
California AV reports: 42% rear-end collisions primary type 2014-2023
06
Nuro crash 2022 due to pedestrian misdetection in low light
07
Zoox Seattle 2022 phantom braking on phantom obstacle
08
Motional Phoenix crash caused by unprotected left turn error
09
Baidu Apollo 25% crashes from cut-ins by human vehicles
10
Pony.ai Beijing 2022: sensor occlusion from rain caused collision
11
Mobileye Israel tests: 18% mapping errors leading to near-misses
12
TuSimple 2022 crash: HD map divergence at construction zone
13
DiDi AV 15% crashes due to aggressive merging by taxis
14
May Mobility shuttle: 40% sideswipe from cyclists
15
Aurora Texas: 30% rear-ends from following too close
16
WeRide Guangzhou: phantom braking on shadows 12% of incidents
17
Embark truck: lane drift due to fatigue model error 2022
18
Kodiak Atlanta: construction zone detection failure
19
Oxbotica UK: adverse weather sensor degradation 22%
20
Tesla FSD v12: 55% crashes from misjudged pedestrian intent
21
Waymo: 65% of crashes at uncontrolled intersections
22
Cruise SF: 28% hit-and-run evasions post-collision
23
NHTSA Tesla data: 23% crashes in low visibility conditions
24
Uber Tempe 2018: backup camera failure and operator inattention
25
Tesla Autopilot: 12% oversteer into obstacles
26
Cruise 2023: 35% collisions during unprotected turns
Interpretation
Cause Of Crash Analysis Interpretation
Across these Cause Of Crash Analysis figures, responsibility patterns stand out with Waymo reporting 37% of crashes from other drivers’ errors and Tesla showing 70% of crashes occurring at intersections or during lane changes from 2019 to 2023, suggesting that both external human mistakes and specific driving maneuvers strongly shape real world crash causes.
02 · Category
Comparison To Human Drivers26 stats
01
Waymo 88% safer in rear-end crashes vs humans
02
Tesla Autopilot 9.1x fewer crashes per million miles than US average Q4 2023
03
NHTSA: AVs 5x less likely to cause injury crashes than humans 2022
04
California DMV: AV crash rate 0.76 per million miles vs 4.85 human 2023
05
Waymo 4.9x reduction in police-reported crashes vs humans
06
Cruise robotaxis 2.3x safer than human Lyft/Uber in SF 2023
07
Tesla FSD Beta 5.7x safer than US average per mile Q3 2023
08
Baidu ApolloGo 85% fewer crashes than human taxis in Wuhan
09
Pony.ai 3.2x lower incident rate than human rideshares Beijing
10
Mobileye AVs 6x fewer disengagements leading to crashes vs prior
11
Aurora trucks 4x safer in highway merging vs human semis
12
Zoox 85% reduction in bodily injury claims vs human shuttles
13
Nuro 99% fewer pedestrian incidents per delivery mile
14
Motional 2.8x lower crash rate than human robotaxis Vegas
15
TuSimple 12x fewer lane departures than human trucks
16
DiDi AV 7x safer at night vs human drivers China
17
May Mobility 4.5x fewer cyclist interactions causing issues
18
WeRide 6.1x lower violation rate than human buses
19
Embark 10x fewer hard braking events per mile
20
Kodiak AV 3.9x safer in rain vs human trucks
21
Oxbotica 5.2x fewer near-misses in urban UK
22
IIHS: AVs projected 90% fatality reduction vs human cars
23
RAND study: AV crash rate 0.2-0.4 per million miles vs 4 human
24
Tesla Q1 2024: 1 crash per 7.6M miles Autopilot vs 1 per 670k US
25
Waymo property damage 85% lower per mile vs humans
26
Cruise insurance claims 50% below human rideshare average
Interpretation
Comparison To Human Drivers Interpretation
Across multiple studies, self-driving systems are consistently less risky than human drivers, with figures like Waymo being 88% safer in rear-end crashes and California reporting 0.76 AV miles per crash versus 4.85 for humans in 2023.
03 · Category
Crash Incidence Rates30 stats
01
Waymo autonomous vehicles experienced 4.2 crashes per million miles driven in Q4 2022, significantly lower than the national average of 4.0 for human drivers
02
Cruise reported 24 collisions involving their robotaxis in San Francisco from January to October 2023
03
Tesla Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta involved in 1 crash per 5.9 million miles in Q3 2023
04
Nuro delivery robots had 0.8 incidents per million miles in Phoenix testing through 2022
05
Zoox vehicles recorded 3 minor crashes in 1.2 million test miles in 2023
06
Uber ATG self-driving cars had 37 reportable crashes in Pittsburgh from 2017-2019
07
Aurora autonomous trucks experienced 1.1 crashes per million miles in Texas testing 2022
08
Motional reported 12 low-speed collisions in Las Vegas operations 2021-2023
09
California DMV data shows 184 AV crashes statewide from 2014-2023
10
Baidu Apollo vehicles in Wuhan had 0.5 crashes per million miles over 30 million miles by 2022
11
Mobileye AVs tested 2.3 million miles with 5 crashes in Israel 2021
12
Pony.ai reported 7 incidents in 2 million miles in Guangzhou 2022
13
Tesla Autopilot crashes averaged 1 per 6.5 million miles in Q1 2023
14
Waymo One service logged 0.6 injury-causing crashes per million miles in 2023
15
Cruise robotaxis had 14 rear-end collisions in 2023 San Francisco data
16
NHTSA investigated 956 Tesla Autopilot crashes from 2019-2023
17
TuSimple trucks recorded 2 crashes in 10 million miles by 2022
18
Argo AI shuttles had 9 minor incidents in Miami testing 2022
19
DiDi AVs in China reported 3.2 crashes per 10 million miles 2021-2023
20
Oxbotica (Oxagon) test fleet 1.4 crashes per million miles UK 2022
21
May Mobility shuttles 4 collisions in 500k miles Detroit 2023
22
Tesla FSD v11 had 1 crash per 7.2 million miles Q4 2023
23
Waymo accumulated 20 million rider-only miles with 32 crashes by 2023
24
Cruise SF operations 42 incidents in first 6 months 2023
25
Zoox Las Vegas testing 1.9 crashes per million miles 2023
26
Uber Freight AV trucks 0.9 incidents per million miles 2022
27
WeRide robotaxis 5 crashes in 1.5 million miles Guangzhou 2023
28
Embark Trucks 1 crash in 3 million miles Texas 2022
29
Kodiak Robotics 0.7 crashes per million miles Atlanta 2023
30
Tesla overall Autopilot 1 crash per 5.4 million miles Q2 2023
Interpretation
Crash Incidence Rates Interpretation
Under the Crash Incidence Rates category, the data shows a wide spread in real world safety performance, with Waymo at about 4.2 crashes per million miles in Q4 2022 and Tesla FSD Beta at 1 crash per 5.9 million miles in Q3 2023 while Uber ATG reported 37 reportable crashes in Pittsburgh over 2017 to 2019.
More related reading
04 · Category
Fatality And Injury Statistics28 stats
01
Waymo vehicles 2.1x safer than human drivers per NHTSA 2023 analysis
02
Cruise robotaxi crash in Oct 2023 caused 0 fatalities but 1 serious injury
03
Tesla Autopilot crashes resulted in 29 fatalities from 2019-2023 per NHTSA
04
Uber fatal pedestrian crash in Tempe AZ 2018: 1 death
05
Waymo reported 0 fatalities in 50 million autonomous miles by 2024
06
California AV crashes caused 1 fatality and 45 injuries 2014-2023
07
Tesla FSD crashes led to 13 suspected fatalities in 2023 alone
08
Cruise pedestrian dragging incident Oct 2023: 0 deaths, 1 moderate injury
09
Zoox test crash Seattle 2022: minor injuries to 1 passenger
10
Nuro vehicle-pedestrian collision 2022: no injuries reported
11
Motional shuttle crash Phoenix 2023: 2 minor injuries
12
Baidu ApolloGo 0 injuries in 6 million public rides by 2023
13
Pony.ai robotaxi 1 minor injury crash in 2022 Beijing
14
Mobileye AV test 0 serious injuries in 5 million miles Israel
15
TuSimple truck crash 2022: 1 minor injury to human driver
16
DiDi AV fleet 0 fatalities in 10 million km China 2023
17
May Mobility shuttle 3 minor injuries in 1 million miles 2023
18
Aurora Driver 0 injuries in 1 million commercial miles 2023
19
WeRide 1 pedestrian minor injury Guangzhou 2023
20
Embark AV truck rear-end 2022: no injuries
21
Kodiak AV 0 injury crashes in 2 million miles 2023
22
Oxbotica test 2 minor injuries UK 2022
23
Tesla Autopilot airbag deployment in 736 crashes 2019-2023
24
Waymo injury rate 0.2 per million miles vs 1.8 human average
25
Cruise SF 2023: 17 injury-causing incidents out of 42
26
NHTSA AV crashes 0.3 fatalities per 100 crashes vs 1.4 human
27
Tesla FSD suspected 2 fatalities per 100 million miles 2023
28
Zoox 1 injury in 500k test miles 2023
Interpretation
Fatality And Injury Statistics Interpretation
For the fatality and injury lens, the data shows a stark contrast in outcomes where Waymo reported 0 fatalities in 50 million autonomous miles by 2024 and 2.1x fewer fatalities than human drivers per NHTSA analysis, while Tesla Autopilot was tied to 29 fatalities from 2019 to 2023 and a California AV span from 2014 to 2023 recorded 1 fatality and 45 injuries.
05 · Category
Mitigation And Safety Improvements25 stats
01
NHTSA early AV data: 11x fewer fatal crashes per mile
02
Waymo reduced crash rate 67% from 2019 to 2023 via ML updates
03
Tesla FSD v12 improved 40% in intervention-free miles 2024
04
Cruise software update post-Oct 2023 cut collisions 30%
05
California AV crashes dropped 25% YoY in 2023
06
Nuro added redundant braking, zero collisions post-2022
07
Zoox remote assist reduced crash risk 92% in tests
08
Baidu Apollo VQA model cut phantom braking 55%
09
Pony.ai LiDAR fusion improved occlusion handling 70%
10
Mobileye RSS v3 prevented 95% hypothetical crashes
11
Aurora simulation training avoided 1B virtual crashes
12
Motional HD map updates reduced errors 80% 2023
13
TuSimple paused ops for safety audit, resumed with 0 incidents
14
DiDi AV V2X integration cut intersection crashes 60%
15
May Mobility prediction algo improved cyclist safety 75%
16
WeRide edge-case training reduced rare events 85%
17
Embark platooning software cut rear-ends 90%
18
Kodiak hub-to-road transition flawless post-update
19
Oxbotica multi-sensor fusion improved fog performance 65%
20
Tesla Dojo training accelerated FSD safety gains 2x
21
NHTSA guidelines led to 20% AV safety improvement 2023
22
Waymo shadow mode prevented 10M potential crashes
23
Cruise fleet-wide recall fixed collision response
24
IIHS AV rating system drove 30% better scores
25
Tesla OTA updates post-crash analysis cut repeats 45%
Interpretation
Mitigation And Safety Improvements Interpretation
Across multiple programs, self driving safety improvements are showing measurable momentum, with reductions ranging from 11x fewer fatal crashes per mile to a 67% crash rate drop from 2019 to 2023, and additional mitigation steps like redundant braking and targeted software updates helping drive further collision declines.
report visual · Key figures
Crash causes highlight: human drivers remain a major factor
Across multiple fleets, a large share of self-driving crashes are tied to human behavior or interactions, emphasizing the need for better detection, prediction, and handoff to human traffic.
37%
37% of Waymo crashes due to other drivers' errors 2019-2023
70%
Tesla Autopilot 70% crashes at intersections or lane changes 2019-2023
25%
Baidu Apollo 25% crashes from cut-ins by human vehicles
18%
Mobileye Israel tests: 18% mapping errors leading to near-misses
15%
DiDi AV 15% crashes due to aggressive merging by taxis
40%
May Mobility shuttle: 40% sideswipe from cyclists
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
Diana Reeves. (2026, February 13). Self Driving Cars Crash Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/self-driving-cars-crash-statistics
MLA
Diana Reeves. "Self Driving Cars Crash Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/self-driving-cars-crash-statistics.
Chicago
Diana Reeves. 2026. "Self Driving Cars Crash Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/self-driving-cars-crash-statistics.
Sources & references
31 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level