Self-Driving Car Crashes - Statistics, Data & Trends

What NHTSA's AV crash database actually shows - and what it doesn't

NHTSA has required AV/ADAS crash reporting since June 2021. Incidents rose from 329 in 2021 to 1,384 in 2024, 5,202 total so far. Tesla has the most ADAS reports (2,732); Waymo leads in true ADS (1,443). 7.4% of incidents caused injury, 1.2% fatalities. The rise reflects more miles driven and better reporting, not necessarily worse safety per mile.

What self-driving car crashes mean for you as a future passenger and pedestrian

If you've ridden in a Tesla on Autopilot, a Waymo robotaxi, or any vehicle with advanced driver assistance, you have direct personal experience with this technology. NHTSA's Standing General Order database captures every incident where automation was active - from a Tesla Autopilot fender-bender in a parking lot to a Waymo collision. The raw count cannot be compared directly to human crash statistics without adjusting for fleet size and miles driven. But it provides the only systematic public record of what goes wrong.

The safety comparison to human drivers is genuinely complex. Waymo has published internal data suggesting their vehicles have a significantly lower serious injury rate per mile than the US average. Tesla's safety reports claim Autopilot-active miles have lower crash rates than the US average. But both comparisons have methodological issues: AVs predominantly operate in clear conditions, on well-mapped roads, avoiding the most dangerous scenarios that account for a disproportionate share of human crashes.

As a pedestrian and cyclist, the picture is less clear. Autonomous vehicles have killed pedestrians - most prominently in the Uber test vehicle fatality of 2018 - and early robotaxi incidents in San Francisco raised concerns about edge case handling. The technology is improving, and it will likely be deployed at meaningful scale within this decade. Whether you find that prospect safer or more concerning depends heavily on which comparison baseline you choose.

AV crash statistics: what the NHTSA data shows

AV incidents vs. human distraction deaths, today

The scales are very different. Human distraction kills far more people daily than AV incidents cause. The comparison reveals the baseline the autonomous vehicle industry is measured against.

From Google's first test car to fatal crashes: AV history

1. 2018Uber AV fatally strikes pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona; first AV pedestrian death in history
2. 2021NHTSA issues Standing General Order; mandatory crash reporting for ADS/ADAS begins; 329 incidents reported
3. 2022NHTSA SGO: 742 incidents; first full year of systematic AV crash data
4. 2023Cruise ADS drags pedestrian 20 feet; GM suspends robotaxi program; 921 total NHTSA incidents
5. 20241,384 incidents; NHTSA opens Waymo preliminary investigation; Waymo expands to multiple cities
6. 20251,793 incidents through Nov 17; cumulative total reaches 5,202

AV/ADAS incident reports over time

NHTSA mandatory AV crash reporting began in 2021 and has documented steady growth from 329 incidents in 2021 to 1,384 in 2024, driven by expanding fleets, improving compliance, and the entry of more operators into the market.

Self-driving crash data: what NHTSA's database actually tells us

Research & incident data from NHTSA and industry

In perspective

How the number is calculated

1,384 US AV/ADAS crashes in 2024 ÷ 365 days ≈ 3.8 incidents/day ÷ 86,400 seconds ≈ 0.000044/sec. The live counter shows cumulative 2024-rate incidents today. Importantly, this figure is not comparable to conventional crash statistics: it includes Level 2 ADAS events (Tesla Autopilot) that involve large fleet sizes and the reporting is mandatory for automation-active incidents, not a measure of AV safety vs. conventional driving.

Sources: NHTSA - Standing General Order & ADS Crash Reporting. Methodology →

Frequently asked questions

How many self-driving car crashes have been reported to NHTSA?

As of November 17, 2025, NHTSA had received 5,202 total incident reports under the Standing General Order, which covers SAE Level 2+ automated systems. The count has grown from 329 in 2021 to 1,793 in the first 10.5 months of 2025 alone.

Does the rising crash count mean self-driving cars are getting more dangerous?

Not necessarily. The increase is driven by three factors: (1) growing fleet size and miles driven, (2) greater compliance with reporting requirements over time, and (3) more companies entering the market. On a per-mile-driven basis, advanced AV systems like Waymo have claimed safety records comparable to or better than human drivers, though independent verification remains challenging.

Which self-driving car company has had the most crashes?

Tesla has the most total incidents (2,732) because it has by far the largest fleet using ADAS (Level 2) systems like Autopilot. Among true ADS (Level 3-5) systems, Waymo leads with 1,443 reported incidents, but Waymo also drives the most ADS miles in the US. Cruise (GM) had 155 ADS incidents before ceasing its robotaxi program after a 2023 pedestrian incident.