Crashes involving self-driving cars raise questions about safety, accountability

PHOENIX (InvestigateTV) — Self-driving cars are navigating roads in several major cities, but crashes involving the autonomous vehicles are raising questions about safety and accountability.

Federal records show Waymo vehicles have been involved in at least 202 crashes in Arizona between 2021 and 2024, including minor fender benders and 31 injury collisions.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) database is heavily redacted and does not say how often Waymo vehicles are at fault.

Self-driving cars are equipped with sensors, cameras and artificial intelligence that allow them to navigate roads without a human driver. The vehicles operate in areas including Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and Phoenix.

During a six-month period, 71 crashes were reported to police in the Phoenix service area. Waymo was found at fault, but not ticketed, in just 13% of those cases.

Drivers describe close calls

Jaafar Yaseen encountered a Waymo in Old Town Scottsdale in October when the vehicle crossed into his lane.

“I saw the Waymo changing lanes and driving towards me,” Yaseen said. “It is scary, especially when I saw it’s Waymo. I know this is a computer. This is not a human being. This is AI.”

According to Scottsdale police, the Waymo crossed the double yellow line and hit Yaseen’s car at a slow speed, then kept going while scratching the driver’s side. Photos at the scene show that the Waymo, which had a passenger, was in the wrong lane. Police faulted the Waymo.

Joel Caspers said he was rear-ended by a Waymo while stopping for a red light in 2021. The impact totaled his car.

“Everybody else just stopped. And as soon as I stopped, that’s when we got rear-ended and it was pretty hard,” Caspers said. “They must have been doing 30 it seemed like because it knocked us into the center of the intersection.”

Citation questions

The officer wrote that the Waymo was not issued a citation since it was in autonomous mode and no person was inside the vehicle at the time of the crash.

In June, a Phoenix police officer pulled over a Waymo for crossing into oncoming traffic but spoke with rider support instead of writing a ticket.

Camille Dredge, Waymo’s senior director for ride hail operations, said the company abides by the same rules as any road user.

“First, I just want to say that the standard today is not perfection,” Dredge said. “Collisions will, they will and can occur, and we are absolutely prepared to respond to them.”

She cited company safety research, which found Waymo vehicles were involved in 81 percent fewer injury crashes than human drivers and had 88 percent fewer property damage claims.

Federal investigation closes

In July 2025, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration closed a 14-month investigation into a series of minor collisions and unexpected behavior from Waymo without taking further action.

NHTSA cited two recalls issued by Waymo in its decision, including a 2024 recall to address a collision with a wooden utility pole in Phoenix and a May 2025 recall of more than 1,200 vehicles that updated software to improve detection and avoidance of roadway barriers.

A Waymo spokesperson said the company “is committed to prioritizing safety, and we’re pleased that NHTSA concluded their investigation and closed our case.”

See the full story by Derek Staahl here.