### The State of Human Drivers When it comes to self-driving cars, the goal is to create vehicles that are better than human drivers. However, what does it mean for a vehicle to be "better" than a human driver? Is it about reducing the number of accidents, or perhaps improving fuel efficiency? According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the average driver has a minor incident once every 229,000 miles, regardless of whether they were at fault or not. This number jumps to a major collision every 699,000 miles. ### Tesla's Robotaxis: A Different Story Tesla's robotaxis, which have been operating in Austin, Texas for eight months, have reported a staggering number of incidents. With approximately 800,000 miles logged, the fleet has experienced 14 separate crash incidents. This averages out to a collision every 57,000 miles, or exactly 4.018 times as often as human-driven cars. The ...
### The State of Human Drivers
When it comes to self-driving cars, the goal is to create vehicles that are better than human drivers. However, what does it mean for a vehicle to be “better” than a human driver? Is it about reducing the number of accidents, or perhaps improving fuel efficiency? According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the average driver has a minor incident once every 229,000 miles, regardless of whether they were at fault or not. This number jumps to a major collision every 699,000 miles.
### Tesla’s Robotaxis: A Different Story
Tesla’s robotaxis, which have been operating in Austin, Texas for eight months, have reported a staggering number of incidents. With approximately 800,000 miles logged, the fleet has experienced 14 separate crash incidents. This averages out to a collision every 57,000 miles, or exactly 4.018 times as often as human-driven cars. The robotaxis have come into contact with five other vehicles, five fixed objects, one cyclist, one animal, and two “other” objects.
### A Cautionary Tale
One of the incidents reported by Tesla’s robotaxis was a two-mile-per-hour impact with an SUV, which required hospitalization. While it’s worth noting that most of the miles logged by the robotaxis have been with safety monitors onboard who could have hit an emergency stop button to avoid incidents altogether, the data still paints a concerning picture. I’ve driven a whole lot more than 57,000 miles in my lifetime, and while I’m rapidly approaching 40, I haven’t crashed a car in 20 years. I certainly haven’t bumped an SUV at walking speed in a way that resulted in a hospitalizing injury.
### Conclusion
Tesla’s robotaxis may be touted as the future of transportation, but the data suggests that they still have a way to go before they can be considered truly autonomous. As we move forward, it’s essential to prioritize safety and ensure that our vehicles are designed with the goal of reducing accidents, not just mimicking human behavior.
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