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Waymo – formerly known as the Google Self-Driving Car Project – is an American autonomous driving technology company headquartered in Mountain View, California. The company began as a project within Google in 2009 and was rebranded as Waymo in 2016.
Waymo’s robotaxis are fully autonomous vehicles designed to provide safe and efficient transportation without human drivers. In October 2020, Waymo launched its first commercial driverless ride-hailing service in the Phoenix metropolitan area, becoming the first company to offer such a service to the public without safety drivers in the vehicle. Since then, Waymo has expanded its robotaxi services to cities including San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Hastings & Hastings analyzed Waymo crash data from the NHTSA, which includes all incidents reported between 2021 and December 16, 2024.
Keep reading to better understand where, how, when, and why these collisions are occurring, as well as who is liable for injuries.
There have been 632 Waymo accidents reported between 2021 and December 16, 2024.
Note: Not all of these incidents were caused by Waymo vehicles; they simply involved one.
As of January 2025, Waymo is mainly active in three states: California, Arizona, and Texas. Below is the breakdown of accidents amongst those states.
The outlier is Georgia, where Waymo has conducted autonomous truck testing.
| State | Number of Incidents |
|---|---|
| Georgia | 1 |
| Texas | 17 |
| Arizona | 204 |
| California | 410 |
| Total | 632 |
| Year | Number of Incidents |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 33 |
| 2022 | 78 |
| 2023 | 123 |
| 2024 | 398 |
Note: The sharp decline in December 2024 is due to the NHTSA only having data available through December 16, 2024.
The following table presents a breakdown of the severity of injuries sustained in Waymo-involved accidents:
| Highest Injury Severity Alleged | Number of Incidents |
|---|---|
| No Injuries Reported | 575 |
| Minor | 34 |
| Moderate | 3 |
| Serious | 3 |
| Unknown | 17 |
| Total | 632 |
There were three accidents with serious injuries reported between 2021-2024.
Incident 1
In May 2024, a Waymo autonomous vehicle (AV) was involved in a collision in Los Angeles, California at 12:58 AM Pacific Time. At the time, the Waymo AV was operating in autonomous mode with a test driver present. The vehicle was traveling behind a box truck in the number 3 lane when a passenger car approached rapidly from behind. The passenger car partially entered the number 2 lane and its front right corner struck the rear left corner of the Waymo AV. Following the impact, the passenger car collided with the center median and came to a stop. The Waymo AV was then switched to manual mode by the test driver and moved to the right-hand shoulder. Both vehicles sustained damage. An individual involved in the crash was transported to a hospital for medical treatment, an airbag deployed, and one of the vehicles was towed from the scene.
Incident 2
In October 2024, a Waymo autonomous vehicle (AV) was involved in a collision in San Francisco, California at 8:52 AM Pacific Time. The Waymo AV was stopped in a queue of traffic at a red light in the rightmost eastbound lane when a passenger car traveling westbound crossed the double yellow line and collided with an SUV in the adjacent left eastbound lane. This impact caused the passenger side of the SUV to strike the driver’s side of the Waymo AV. At the time of the collision, the Waymo AV was operating in autonomous mode. All three vehicles sustained damage, and an individual involved was transported to a hospital for medical treatment.
Incident 3
In November 2023, a Waymo autonomous vehicle (AV) was involved in a collision in San Francisco, California. The crash occurred at 10:43 PM PT at an intersection while the Waymo AV was stopped at a red light in the left lane, alongside another passenger vehicle in the right lane. After the light turned green, both vehicles proceeded into the intersection when a third passenger car ran a red light while traveling westbound. This vehicle struck the front right side of the Waymo AV and the front of the adjacent passenger car before continuing onto the sidewalk, where it hit pedestrians. At the time of the impact, the Waymo AV was in autonomous mode, and all three vehicles sustained damage and were towed from the scene. An individual involved was transported to a hospital for medical treatment.
Only one fatal accident has occurred in connection with a Waymo vehicle.
This incident was not included in the data, as the NHTSA’s crash records are only available through December 16, 2024, and the accident occurred in 2025:
January 19, 2025 – San Francisco, California
A high-speed multi-vehicle collision occurred at the intersection of Sixth and Harrison streets in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood. A black Tesla, reportedly traveling at approximately 98 miles per hour, struck multiple vehicles stopped at a red light. Among the impacted vehicles was an unoccupied, autonomous Waymo car.
The crash resulted in the death of 27-year-old Mikhael Romanenko and his dog, with several others sustaining injuries. Authorities detained the Tesla driver on charges including vehicular manslaughter and are investigating potential involvement of substances and connections to hit-and-run incidents that occurred on Interstate 280 moments earlier.
The Waymo car was stationary and unoccupied at the time of the crash.
The majority of Waymo crashes (319) occurred in a 25MPH zone.
The majority of crashes (489) occurred on a clear day.
| Weather | Number of Incidents |
|---|---|
| Clear | 489 |
| Cloudy | 120 |
| Rain | 16 |
| Fog/Smoke | 1 |
| Snow | 0 |
| Severe Wind | 0 |
| Unknown | 6 |
There have been 203 Waymo accidents in Phoenix, Arizona between 2021-2024.
Below is a breakdown of where in Phoenix these Waymo car accidents occurred. As of August 2024, there were around 200 Waymo cars operating in Phoenix.
| Phoenix City | Number of Incidents |
|---|---|
| Chandler | 15 |
| Gilbert | 1 |
| Guadalupe | 1 |
| Mesa | 6 |
| Paradise Valley | 2 |
| Phoenix | 97 |
| Scottsdale | 23 |
| Tempe | 58 |
| Total | 203 |
If you were injured in a collision in Phoenix, our car accident attorneys can help with your claim.
In May 2024, a driverless Waymo vehicle collided with a wooden utility pole in a Phoenix alley during a low-speed maneuver. No injuries occurred, but the incident led Waymo to voluntarily recall 672 self-driving cars to address the issue.
The company implemented a software update to enhance the vehicles’ ability to detect and respond to pole-like objects and made mapping improvements to better define road boundaries. These updates were applied to all affected vehicles by early June 2024, ensuring the fleet’s safe operation.
As autonomous vehicles become more common on public roads, questions of liability in the event of a crash grow increasingly complex. Unlike traditional accidents, where fault is typically assigned to one or more human drivers, self-driving car incidents introduce multiple potentially liable parties, each with different legal and technical responsibilities.
Waymo, as the developer of autonomous vehicle technology, could be held liable in cases where a system failure or programming flaw contributed to an accident. This might include errors in object recognition, failure to predict human behavior, or software bugs that lead to improper decision-making. If an accident is caused by a defect in the autonomous driving software or a malfunction of the vehicle’s sensors and hardware, liability may rest with Waymo and its technology providers.
If the autonomous vehicle itself, separate from its self-driving technology, has a mechanical failure—such as faulty brakes or steering malfunctions—the manufacturer of the car may share responsibility. Even if Waymo provides the self-driving software, the physical car is often produced by a third-party automaker, such as Jaguar or Chrysler, meaning a defect in the vehicle could make the manufacturer liable under product liability laws.
Waymo primarily operates fully autonomous vehicles, but liability can shift if a human is involved in the operation of the car. For instance, if a safety driver in a testing phase overrides the system and makes a negligent decision leading to a crash, that individual (or their employer) could bear some or all of the responsibility. In cases where passengers in a Waymo vehicle fail to follow safety guidelines or interfere with the vehicle’s operation, their actions may also come under scrutiny in legal disputes.
Not all self-driving car accidents are the fault of the autonomous system. If another driver, cyclist, or pedestrian acts negligently—such as by running a red light, making a sudden and illegal lane change, or jaywalking—liability may rest primarily with them. However, Waymo’s technology would still be examined to determine whether it appropriately reacted to avoid the accident.
In some cases, liability questions may extend to city or state governments responsible for maintaining safe road conditions. If an accident occurs due to poorly marked lanes, malfunctioning traffic signals, or other infrastructure issues, government agencies may bear partial responsibility. Additionally, regulatory bodies overseeing autonomous vehicle testing and deployment may be scrutinized for permitting operations in certain environments without sufficient oversight.
Unlike traditional accidents, where fault is assessed based on human decision-making, autonomous vehicle crashes require analysis of complex data logs, sensor inputs, and software decision-making processes. Investigators may need to examine whether the AI system performed as expected, whether any updates or patches were pending, and how the vehicle’s response compared to what a reasonable human driver would have done in the same situation.
As laws and regulations surrounding autonomous vehicles continue to evolve, liability in Waymo accidents remains a legal gray area. Courts and lawmakers will likely refine standards over time, determining clearer frameworks for responsibility as self-driving technology becomes more widespread.
Data Source: https://www.nhtsa.gov/laws-regulations/standing-general-order-crash-reporting