When are self-driving cars less safe?

A new study finds that self-driving vehicles appear to be safer than human-driven cars, with two exceptions.

The research team found that human drivers are safer when light levels are low or when the vehicle is turning in a certain direction (right or left). This is due to the challenges faced by autonomous vehicle sensors in these situations.

The study's authors, Mohamed Abdel-Aty and Xingxuan Ding, analyzed California car crash data from 2016 to 2022. They then compared the safety of self-driving vehicles versus human-operated cars.

The researchers found that self-driving vehicles were generally safer than those driven by humans in most circumstances. In other words, they found that a self-driving car was less likely to crash than a human-driven car under similar driving conditions.

They found that human-driven cars are safer at dawn/dusk and when turning, especially since self-driving vehicle sensors struggle in low-light conditions, such as sunset or sunrise, and during complex cornering situations.

By identifying vulnerabilities in self-driving vehicles, manufacturers will be required to address these issues, improving overall safety, the researchers point out.

They suggest that further studies are needed to ensure continued progress in self-driving vehicle technology, especially given that most major automakers intend to phase out human-driven cars in the coming years.

The study was published in the journal  Nature Communications.