Automobile Crashes Are A Public Well being Disaster. Autonomous Vehicles Are The Remedy.

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Yearly, almost 40,000 People are killed in motorized vehicle accidents. There are about 6 million collisions involving motor automobiles yearly — about 16,500 per day — but the carnage on America’s roads and highways goes largely unnoticed. Some are celebrating that in 2024, the quantity useless from automobile crashes within the US was lower than 40,000. Whooppee! What a good time to be alive — so long as you aren’t one of many victims.

Jonathan Slotkin is a neurosurgeon, which suggests he’s typically referred to as upon to deal with the accidents sustained in a kind of 6 million annual automobile crashes. When Waymo launched an in depth report in regards to the safely of its autonomous automobiles lately, Dr. Slotkin took the time to dig into the info. His research led to some attention-grabbing insights, which he shared in an opinion piece printed by the New York Instances on December 2, 2025.

The Waymo report contained knowledge on almost 100 million driverless miles in 4 American cities by way of June 2025, “the most important trove of data launched up to now about security,” Slotkin wrote. In comparison with the expertise of human drivers on the identical roads, Waymo self-driving vehicles had been concerned in 91 % fewer critical damage or deadly crashes and 80 % fewer crashes inflicting any damage. “It confirmed a 96 % decrease price of injury-causing crashes at intersections, that are among the deadliest I encounter within the trauma bay,” Slotkin mentioned.

His focus is on Waymo for one easy motive. It’s the solely autonomous automobile firm within the US that points clear and full studies in regards to the incidence of accidents involving its vehicles. To date, Tesla is doing all the things potential to stop the general public — and regulators — from having a whole image about its security file. As a substitute, we’re supposed to simply accept the assertions of a drug-addled chief govt who’s on file as saying, “The elemental weak point of Western civilization is empathy.”

Waymo Autonomous Driving Statistics Revealed

To date, different autonomous car corporations don’t launch such knowledge or present solely incomplete knowledge. Waymo, in contrast, printed all the things Slotkin wanted to research the info, together with crash statistics with miles pushed that enable correct comparability to human drivers in the identical places. “If Waymo’s outcomes are indicative of the broader way forward for autonomous automobiles, we could also be on the trail to eliminating site visitors deaths as a number one explanation for mortality in the USA. Whereas many see this as a tech story, I view it as a public well being breakthrough,” Slotkin wrote.

Autonomous automobiles are safer, he claimed, as a result of they scrupulously comply with particular guidelines, keep away from distraction, see in all instructions on a regular basis, and forestall excessive velocity conflicts, which is able to keep away from most dangerous collisions. But he acknowledges that they aren’t but good, citing an occasion of a Waymo passenger caught inside a automobile that stored going round and round in a parking zone for about 5 minutes. As one other instance, Waymo needed to roll out a software program replace final 12 months when considered one of its vehicles struck a utility pole at low velocity.

The Waymo knowledge present its automobiles have been concerned in two fatalities and one critical damage. “In all three instances … human-driven automobiles triggered the collision — a excessive velocity crash that pushed one other automobile right into a stopped Waymo, a crimson mild runner hit a Waymo and different automobiles earlier than placing and injuring a pedestrian, and a Waymo automobile was rear ended by a motorcyclist who was then fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver.”

Slotnik mentioned there’s an city legend that autonomous automobiles brake erratically, which results in them being rear ended ceaselessly. The cases of phantom braking by Teslas working in Autopilot or FSD mode could also be liable for that notion. In actual fact, Waymo automobiles are concerned in far fewer rear finish crashes that lead to accidents than vehicles pushed by people. The info present that Waymo has by no means rear ended one other car exhausting sufficient to trigger damage.

The Knowledge Is Overwhelming

“In medical analysis, there’s a apply of ending a research early when the outcomes are too placing to disregard. We cease when there’s surprising hurt. We additionally cease for overwhelming profit — when a remedy is working so effectively that it will be unethical to proceed giving anybody a placebo. When an intervention works this clearly, you alter what you do,” Slotkin wrote.

“There’s a public well being crucial to rapidly broaden the adoption of autonomous automobiles. Greater than 39,000 People died in motorized vehicle crashes final 12 months, greater than murder, airplane crashes, and pure disasters mixed. Crashes are the No. 2 explanation for loss of life for youngsters and younger adults.

“However loss of life is simply a part of the story. These crashes are additionally the main explanation for spinal wire damage. We surgeons see the aftermath of the ten,000 crash victims that come to emergency rooms daily. The mixed financial and high quality of life toll exceeds $1 trillion yearlygreater than the complete US army or Medicare price range.” Let that sink in for a second. Motorcar accidents trigger financial losses that exceed even the large US protection price range!

“This isn’t a name to exchange each car tomorrow,” Slotkin identified. “For one factor, self-driving know-how continues to be costly. Every (Waymo) automobile’s gear prices $100,000 past the bottom worth, and Waymo doesn’t but promote vehicles for private use. Even as soon as that modifications, many People love driving; some will resist any change that appears to change that freedom.”

In fact, placing a label on a automobile that claims “autonomous car” is like placing a label on a can of spaghetti sauce that claims, “All pure.” Possibly it’s or perhaps it’s principally advertising and marketing hype. “Lots of the devastating crashes that seize headlines contain ‘driver help’ methods — the type present in hundreds of thousands of Teslas and different trendy vehicles — the place people want to stay vigilant behind the wheel,” Slotkin noticed.

“Tesla lately launched outcomes suggesting that what it calls ‘full self-driving (supervised)’ decreases the frequency of crashes, however we are going to nonetheless want extra impartial evaluation of that knowledge earlier than we will draw agency conclusions. And analysis on different partial automation automobiles have yielded blended outcomes. A research from the Insurance coverage Institute for Freeway Security discovered ‘no convincing proof’ that partial automation reduces crash charges,” Slotkin defined.

“We don’t but know if different autonomous automobiles could have the same security file (to Waymo). Tesla lately launched a driverless pilot program (with an individual supervising from the entrance passenger seat) in Austin, Texas, however has not launched efficiency knowledge but. Different corporations function absolutely self-driving ride-hail providers, however up to now with out comparable knowledge transparency.

“There may be more likely to be some preliminary public trepidation. We don’t want everybody to make use of self-driving vehicles to comprehend profound security positive factors, nevertheless. If 30 % of vehicles had been absolutely automated, it’d stop 40 % of crashes, as autonomous automobiles each keep away from inflicting crashes and reply higher when human drivers err. Insurance coverage markets will speed up this transition, as premiums begin to favor autonomous automobiles.”

His statement about insurance coverage charges is instructive. If certainly autonomous automobiles obtain considerably decrease charges of damage and loss of life, lowered insurance coverage premiums will assist offset the upper prices of the know-how.

Present Us The Knowledge!

In keeping with the info launched by Waymo, compared to a mean human driver over an equal distance, Waymo automobiles had 96 % fewer crashes at intersections, 92 % fewer crashed involving pedestrians, 83 % fewer crashes with bikes or bicycles, and 73 % fewer so-called lateral crashes the place the entrance of 1 automobile crashes into the facet of one other automobile. These are exceptional statistics.

Slotkin argued that regardless of how a lot safer autonomous automobiles are, “in the event that they find yourself primarily pulling riders from trains and buses, that are already exceedingly secure, there will probably be far much less of a profit. It is smart to deploy these automobiles by way of business robotaxis, which is the present strategy, however we’d like deliberate workforce planning to deal with the best way that it will threaten the livelihoods of America’s hundreds of thousands of economic drivers.”

He added, “Reasonably than grapple with these challenges, many cities are erecting roadblocks. In Washington, D.C., native politicians have lengthy postponed a key report that might facilitate the broader use of those automobiles regardless of 18 months of profitable car testing. In Boston, the Metropolis Council is contemplating mandating a ‘human security operator’ in each car, successfully stalling significant deployment. Policymakers must cease preventing this transformation and begin planning for it.”

The important thing, Slotkin mentioned, is knowledge. He famous that at present, corporations are required to report crashes however not the variety of miles pushed between incidents. “We’d like the denominator, not simply the numerator. Knowledge reporting necessities ought to embody crash charges, miles pushed and the place, and security efficiency. Impartial auditors ought to confirm this knowledge in opposition to police studies, insurance coverage claims and privacy-protected medical information.

“This transformation will occur,” he says. “We will information it towards a safer, extra equitable future or let it unfold haphazardly round us. There’s a future the place guide driving turns into unusual, maybe even quaint, like driving horses is at the moment. It’s a future the place we not settle for 1000’s of deaths and tens of 1000’s of damaged spines as the value of mobility. It’s time to cease treating this like a tech moonshot and begin treating it like a public well being intervention.” To which we are saying, “Bravo, Dr. Slotkin!”

Time For Tesla To Observe Waymo’s Lead

The elephant within the room, after all, is Tesla. To date, it has relied on advertising and marketing phrases that many take into account deceptive whereas refusing to launch the info wanted to confirm its claims. Efforts to contact the corporate are sometimes met with a smiling pile of dung emoji. The corporate has vigorously opposed makes an attempt by plaintiffs’ attorneys to pursue claims for damages in courtroom.

As now we have mentioned ceaselessly, Tesla and Elon Musk brazenly oppose offering the info that might confirm the reality of their claims that their self-driving methods are safer than human drivers. Possibly they’re, however now we have no method of verifying that.

So, Elon, in order for you folks to pay 1000’s of {dollars} on your autonomous driving software program, present us the proof. Give us the info the best way Waymo did. Cease attempting to sport the system by forcing security officers to weaken their investigations. Come clean with your errors like adults, quite than attempting to jam your know-how down folks’s throats based mostly on pretend movies and glowing statements throughout earnings calls.

Slotkin is right that accidents and deaths from auto accidents are a public well being concern, however we have to remember the fact that these autonomous vehicles are on public roads and that personal residents are unwitting members within the improvement of these methods, though they haven’t given their consent.

Secrecy and deceptive claims will not be useful. Waymo has proven how its autonomous vehicles carry out in the actual world. Now it’s time for all different corporations selling autonomous operation to come back clear as effectively — notably Tesla. C’mon, Elon. We double canine dare you to do the best factor!