There is no single safety verdict for all “self-driving” technology. A 2026 study found fewer police-reportable crash involvements per mile for Waymo’s driverless vehicles than for human drivers in four study areas, while evidence has not shown that consumer Level 2 driver-assistance systems add crash-reduction benefits beyond features such as automatic emergency braking. Level 2 still requires a human to supervise, and investigations have linked overreliance on it to fatal crashes.
What does “self-driving” mean?
The label can refer to systems with very different responsibilities. The key question is whether a human must continuously drive and monitor the road, or whether the system can perform the driving task within defined limits.
| Automation level | What it does | Human responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Level 2 driver assistance | Can provide steering and speed input and assist with multiple parts of driving for extended periods. | The driver must remain engaged, monitor the road and be ready to respond. |
| Level 4 driving automation | Can perform the entire driving task without driver input, but only under specified conditions or in specified places. | It does not require a human driver to perform the driving task while operating within those limits. |
| Level 5 driving automation | Would perform the driving task without human input under all conditions. | IIHS says Level 5 systems do not currently exist. |
These definitions follow the IIHS overview of advanced driver assistance. In the United States, NHTSA says no fully automated vehicle is currently available for sale to consumers; systems offered to consumers today include driver-assistance and active-safety features, not a vehicle that takes over the entire trip. See NHTSA’s automated vehicle safety guidance.
Are driverless cars safer than human drivers?
For one operator and a limited set of cities and years, a July 2026 IIHS analysis found that Waymo driverless vehicles had 68% fewer police-reportable crash involvements per vehicle mile than human drivers in the same areas and period. The comparison covered San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Austin, using 2021–2024 crash reports and Waymo mileage. It is a finding about Waymo in those places, not proof that every driverless service or automated vehicle is safer. The study is described in IIHS’s July 23, 2026 report.
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| Study area | Difference in police-reportable crash-involvement rate per mile |
|---|---|
| Phoenix | 76% lower for Waymo driverless vehicles |
| San Francisco | 35% lower for Waymo driverless vehicles |
| Los Angeles | 71% lower for Waymo driverless vehicles |
| Austin | 4% higher for Waymo driverless vehicles; the sample was relatively small |
The measure is crash involvement, not a finding that the automated vehicle was at fault or caused each crash. Rates differed by city, and Austin’s estimate came from a relatively small sample. IIHS President David Harkey said the results show that, “on a limited scale,” driverless cars were safer than human drivers, while warning that current data collection is not adequate for continuously monitoring large-scale expansion.
How strong is that comparison?
The study’s rate calculation is more informative than a comparison of raw crash counts because it uses miles driven as a denominator. But the denominator was available only for Waymo, and the comparison was not a randomized trial. IIHS researchers reviewed 736 publicly reported crashes involving automation on public roads and judged approximately 22% likely to be police-reportable. They also had to account for differences in reporting: human drivers may be less likely to report qualifying crashes, while a commercial operator may be more likely to report incidents. IIHS says around half of all crashes and a third of injury crashes go unreported; those figures describe human crash reporting, not the share of automated-vehicle crashes that are missed.
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- Most driverless-vehicle operators do not provide mileage data, so the available evidence cannot support a market-wide crash-rate comparison.
- Police-reportable crash involvement, injuries, fatalities and performance of a specific crash-avoidance feature are different measures; one should not be treated as a substitute for another.
- Without comparable miles and reporting practices across operators, a higher or lower count alone cannot establish which system has the lower risk per mile.
These qualifications are detailed in the IIHS analysis.
Are consumer driver-assistance systems actually safer?
Evidence for Level 2 systems is less encouraging than the driverless-vehicle comparison. In a July 2024 review of crash records and insurance data, IIHS-HLDI found little evidence that partial automation prevented collisions beyond the benefits associated with crash-avoidance features such as front automatic emergency braking. More than half of new models for sale in 2023 offered partial automation as an optional or standard feature, according to IIHS. Its review does not establish that every individual system performs identically; it found no clear added crash-reduction benefit from partial automation itself. Read the IIHS-HLDI review.
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IIHS also points to a human-factors problem: a system that handles some driving tasks can leave a driver bored or falsely confident, even though the person must still supervise it and may need to take over. The driver’s duty to monitor does not disappear when the vehicle steers or adjusts speed. IIHS President David Harkey characterized partial automation as a convenience feature rather than a safety technology.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What risks have investigators documented?
In March 2026, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that overreliance on Ford BlueCruise contributed to two fatal crashes in 2024, one in San Antonio and one in Philadelphia. In both cases, the Ford struck a stationary vehicle; the NTSB found no driver-applied or system-initiated braking or steering recorded in the moments before impact. The investigation found that driver-monitoring systems failed to detect distraction or disengagement in the cases. The NTSB’s findings and recommendations are in its March 31, 2026 announcement.
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The NTSB cited gaps in federal guidance and the absence of federal requirements for these systems to record crash data. It recommended stronger standards, improved driver monitoring, better data recording and system changes. This does not mean every use of Level 2 assistance leads to a crash; it shows why a system that requires supervision must be assessed not only by its driving capabilities but also by whether it can keep the driver attentive and establish what happened when a crash occurs.
Why are automated-vehicle crash reports incomplete?
NHTSA’s Standing General Order requires named manufacturers and operators to report specified crashes involving automated driving systems (ADS) and Level 2 advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). The trigger criteria differ. For ADS, reporting applies when the system was in use within 30 seconds of a crash meeting specified damage or injury criteria. For Level 2, the stated criteria include a vulnerable road user being struck, a fatality, airbag deployment or hospital transport. The order was first issued in 2021 and amended in 2021, 2023 and 2025. See NHTSA’s Standing General Order on Crash Reporting.
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NHTSA has also said that some submitted reports incorrectly classified Level 2 ADAS as ADS, or the reverse, and that it is working with reporting entities to correct classifications. The order is therefore a source of specified incident reports, not a complete census of every crash involving automation or a ready-made comparison of risk across all vehicles. Mileage and consistent classifications matter when interpreting any rate.
Quick Recap
What should a driver take away?
- For driverless services: the strongest comparison in this evidence is specific to Waymo’s 2021–2024 operation in four cities. It should not be generalized to other operators, places or conditions.
- For a consumer vehicle with Level 2 assistance: treat the system as assistance, not a substitute driver. Keep monitoring the road and be prepared to take over, as the system requires.
- For safety claims: check what is being measured, where and when it was measured, and whether the comparison uses miles driven as well as crash reports.
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