What to know: 

  • Waymo and Nexar partnered to analyze 335 collisions involving vulnerable road users (VRUs) across six U.S. cities, creating the largest dataset of its kind.
  • The study aims to better understand safety risks faced by pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists who share roads with larger vehicles.
  • In 2022, an estimated 7,522 pedestrians and 1,105 cyclists lost their lives in traffic crashes, highlighting the critical need for this research.

Waymo has taken a groundbreaking step in road safety research by compiling an unprecedented dataset of collisions involving vulnerable road users. The autonomous driving company partnered with Nexar to analyze dash camera footage spanning over 500 million miles of driving data.

The research by Waymo shows detailed data on VRU collisions remains scarce in the United States. Many incidents involving pedestrians and cyclists go unreported to police or insurance companies, creating a significant gap in understanding these safety risks.

The study reconstructed 335 collisions involving pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists in six major U.S. cities. Researchers analyzed various factors, including human driver responses to unexpected VRU behavior, visibility conditions, and vehicle trajectories, to estimate injury risks in each crash scenario.

Waymo collaborated with research partner VUFO to develop more precise injury risk models. Unlike traditional models that only consider vehicle speed, these new models account for additional factors such as VRU age, sex, and their size relative to the vehicle. The research utilized anonymous data from the German In-Depth Accident Study, which contains information on thousands of VRU crashes over more than two decades.

This research initiative represents a significant step forward in understanding and improving road safety for vulnerable users, particularly as autonomous vehicle technology continues to evolve.