Waymo reported 219 crashes in Los Angeles County in 2025, more than triple the 69 recorded in 2024, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis of autonomous vehicle crash data filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration1,2. Another 186 crashes have been reported so far this year.
The raw numbers track fleet growth: Waymo has expanded to 14 U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, and reports 500,000 paid rides weekly5. The company just began fully autonomous operations in Detroit[3].
Severity profile skews minor
More than 80% of this year's Waymo crashes in the county caused no apparent injuries. About 15% were classified as having potential for injury, and less than 1% were categorized as severe. Of the incidents reported this year, 82 occurred when the vehicle was stopped and 65 while it was traveling straight. Across the broader city of Los Angeles, the California Autonomous Vehicle Crash Dashboard shows 379 total recorded crashes dating back to July 2021, with 49.6% occurring when the robotaxi was stopped, 30.87% while driving straight, and 8.97% while parked4.
Robotaxis were involved in only two crashes resulting in serious injury since 2021 in the city of Los Angeles, against a backdrop of 2,092 fatalities and serious injuries from all car crashes citywide in 2024 alone. Waymo said that across 67 million miles driven in Los Angeles, it reported zero crashes resulting in serious or fatal injuries, compared with 11 serious-injury crashes expected for human drivers over the same distance. According to New Market Pitch, Waymo has logged over 220 million fully autonomous miles and reports 94% fewer serious-injury crashes than human drivers.
Per-mile rate falling, edge cases persist
Waymo's crash rate has fallen to fewer than six crashes per million miles driven this year, down from about 57 per million miles in 2023. Statewide, more than 590 Waymo crashes were recorded in California in 2025, nearly double the 304 in 2024.
Edge-case failures continue to draw scrutiny. In Austin, Waymo vehicles were cited for passing school buses with stop signs deployed, prompting a voluntary recall. In San Francisco, a blackout left Waymo cars stranded, blocking emergency responders. Experts caution that current safety data reflect limited operating conditions, making direct comparisons with human drivers difficult.
Amazon's Zoox is already testing driverless vehicles in Los Angeles, and Tesla's Cybercab and other entrants are expected to follow. ANALYSIS The simultaneous expansion of multiple robotaxi operators into the same metro area will compound the data-interpretation challenge, as regulators will need to compare safety records across platforms with different sensor stacks, operating domains, and reporting methodologies.