Have self driving cars really reduced accidents and injuries in Louisville and throughout the State of Kentucky?  Self driving cars and other vehicles such as delivery trucks and vans have become more and more common on streets and highways across the United States.  However, the promise of reduced accidents and injury due to “human error” hasn’t resulted in a result which is without car accidents, injury and even wrongful death.

There have been several cases of self driving cars which have resulted in car accidents and injuries.  Some have been the fault of the software which controls the vehicles.  Many have been the result of issues between the human operator and the car itself.  In some cases, the operator may be able to disable the self-drive emergency braking system.  This resulted in the wrongful death of a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona last year when the car in self-drive mode struck and killed a pedestrian.  The vehicle’s sensors identified the need to brake, however the driver was distracted by a program on her mobile device.

In order to answer the question of have self driving cars really reduced accidents and injuries many states are requiring auto manufacturers to report accidents involving self-drive vehicles.  These reports include specific tracking of a “human intervention” – the need of the driver to over-ride the self-drive mode and take control of the vehicle.  General Motors has reported one intervention for every 1250 miles, while other manufacturers such as Waymo report 5600 miles between human interventions.

The New York Times recently reported Uber was barely meeting it’s target of 13 miles between interventions in a test program in Arizona.

Have self driving cars really reduced accidents and injuries?  We have learned one thing for sure at this point: Human operators of self driving cars must maintain vigilance at all times.  The theory of automation reducing accidents and injury is gaining acceptance here in the US.  However, these programs still have a long way to go.