Self-driving cars could help avoid traffic injuries

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-12-24 03:00

International

Photo by gibblesmash asdf on Unsplash. Story by Lyndal Byford, Australian Science Media Centre

Switching to self-driving cars could help cut traffic accidents and injuries, avoiding as many as 1 million injuries in the US over the next decade according to international research. The study found that even in the least optimistic scenario, in which self-driving vehicles accounted for just 1% of the total distance travelled in the US, and these vehicles cut the risk of injury by 50% compared to normal drivers, more than 67,000 injuries could be avoided. In the most optimistic scenario, in which self-driving vehicles accounted for 10% of the distance travelled by 2035, and these vehicles reduced the risk of injury by 80%, the authors estimate more than 1 million injuries could be avoided.

News release

From: JAMA

Forecasting the Impact of Fully Automated Vehicle Adoption on US Road Traffic Injuries

JAMA Surgery
Research Letter

About The Study: Commercial autonomous vehicle (AV) availability and adoption are underway and could impact national road traffic injuries. In this simulation study, potential injury reductions in the U.S. were forecasted using several scenarios based on real-world data. The results of this study suggest that AV adoption may reduce expected injuries; however, predicted confidence intervals remain broad for the baseline injury forecast, and none of the scenarios reduced expected injuries outside of these bounds.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Surgery

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, Canada

Funder: This research was supported by the Dr Matthew Galati Brain Changer award, awarded to Dr Malhotra, which is made possible by the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF), an innovative arrangement between the Government of Canada (through Health Canada) and Brain Canada Foundation, and by the Brain Changes Initiative

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