Many people remain wary of autonomous vehicles, or AVs, despite growing evidence that they may significantly improve road safety. While some experts and policymakers caution that AVs may not necessarily make roads safer, research is increasingly showing that self-driving cars crash less often than human-driven ones and cause fewer injuries. Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), which are already required in all new vehicles, have also been effective in reducing injuries and insurance claims. These systems include features like automatic emergency braking (AEB), which can detect pedestrians and other vehicles, helping to prevent accidents. Studies by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) show that AEB systems have reduced pedestrian crashes by 27 percent and rear-end crashes by 50 percent, with a 56 percent reduction in injuries from those crashes. The Highway Loss Data Institute also found that cars equipped with AEB alone had a 13 percent drop in property-damage claims, while those with multiple ADAS features saw up to a 39 percent reduction in claims. These findings suggest that even before full autonomy is achieved, driver assistance technologies are making roads safer. Waymo, a leader in autonomous vehicle technology, reports that its robotaxis have provided over 20 million paid rides across 220 million miles. A recent study by Waymo found that its vehicles had 92 percent fewer fatal or serious-injury crashes compared to human drivers in similar urban environments. This included significant reductions in pedestrian injuries, airbag deployments, and overall injuries. However, questions remain about whether these results can be directly compared to human drivers, who operate in a wider range of conditions. The IIHS is working to improve data accuracy by focusing on police-reported crashes, which are more reliable. It found that Waymo’s vehicles had 68 percent fewer crashes than human drivers in cities like Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, with even lower injury rates. Despite these positive findings, the lack of national safety standards and varying state regulations make it challenging to compare crash rates consistently. The IIHS is urging better federal reporting standards to ensure the continued safety of autonomous vehicles as they become more common. With efforts like the NHTSA’s new partnership to develop AV performance standards and exemptions for companies like Zoox, the future of driverless vehicles is moving forward, with potential benefits that could save thousands of lives annually.