Our attorneys have been assisting the Orange County and Southern California communities for over 40 years.
Waymo, formerly known as the Google Self-Driving Car Project, is an American autonomous driving technology company headquartered in Mountain View, California. The company began as a project within Google in 2009 and was rebranded as Waymo in 2016.
Waymo’s robotaxis are fully autonomous vehicles designed to provide safe and efficient transportation without human drivers. In October 2020, Waymo launched its first commercial driverless ride-hailing service in the Phoenix area, becoming the first company to offer such a service to the public without safety drivers in the vehicle. Since then, Waymo has expanded its robotaxi services to cities including San Francisco and Los Angeles.
DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo analyzed Waymo crash data from the NHTSA, which includes all incidents reported between 2021 and 2024.
Keep reading to understand where, how, when, and why these collisions are occurring, as well as who is liable for injuries.
There were 1,429 Waymo accidents reported between July 2021 and November 17, 2025.
Note: Not all of these incidents were caused by Waymo vehicles; they simply involved one.
| Year | Number of Incidents |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 33 |
| 2022 | 78 |
| 2023 | 123 |
| 2024 | 462 |
| 2025 (through Nov 17) | 733 |
There have been 117 reported injuries and 2 fatalities resulting from collisions involving Waymo vehicles. The following table presents a breakdown of the severity of those injuries sustained:
| Highest Injury Severity Alleged | Number of Incidents |
|---|---|
| No Injuries Reported | 1,009 |
| Minor | 98 |
| Moderate | 15 |
| Serious | 4 |
| Fatal | 2 |
| Unknown | 23 |
There have been four Waymo accidents with serious injuries reported to the NHTSA:
February 2025 – Chandler, Arizona
At 3:39 AM, an SUV traveling in the right lane veered straight from a right-turn-only lane, struck a fire hydrant, utility bollard, and street light, then re-entered the roadway into the path of a Waymo autonomous vehicle. The SUV’s rear side collided with the Waymo’s front passenger corner. The SUV driver was hospitalized. One Waymo passenger reported minor injuries but declined treatment. Both Waymo passengers were unbelted at the time of impact.
October 2024 – San Francisco, California
In October 2024, a Waymo autonomous vehicle (AV) was involved in a collision in San Francisco, California at 8:52 AM Pacific Time. The Waymo AV was stopped in a queue of traffic at a red light in the rightmost eastbound lane when a passenger car traveling westbound crossed the double yellow line and collided with an SUV in the adjacent left eastbound lane. This impact caused the passenger side of the SUV to strike the driver’s side of the Waymo AV. At the time of the collision, the Waymo AV was operating in autonomous mode. All three vehicles sustained damage, and an individual involved was transported to a hospital for medical treatment.
May 2024 – Los Angeles, California
In May 2024, a Waymo autonomous vehicle (AV) was involved in a collision in Los Angeles, California at 12:58 AM Pacific Time. At the time, the Waymo AV was operating in autonomous mode with a test driver present. The vehicle was traveling behind a box truck in the number 3 lane when a passenger car approached rapidly from behind. The passenger car partially entered the number 2 lane and its front right corner struck the rear left corner of the Waymo AV. Following the impact, the passenger car collided with the center median and came to a stop. The Waymo AV was then switched to manual mode by the test driver and moved to the right-hand shoulder. Both vehicles sustained damage. An individual involved in the crash was transported to a hospital for medical treatment, an airbag deployed, and one of the vehicles was towed from the scene.
November 2023 – San Francisco, California
In November 2023, a Waymo autonomous vehicle (AV) was involved in a collision in San Francisco, California. The crash occurred at 10:43 PM PT at an intersection while the Waymo AV was stopped at a red light in the left lane, alongside another passenger vehicle in the right lane. After the light turned green, both vehicles proceeded into the intersection when a third passenger car ran a red light while traveling westbound. This vehicle struck the front right side of the Waymo AV and the front of the adjacent passenger car before continuing onto the sidewalk, where it hit pedestrians. At the time of the impact, the Waymo AV was in autonomous mode, and all three vehicles sustained damage and were towed from the scene. An individual involved was transported to a hospital for medical treatment.
Only two fatal accidents have occurred in connection with a Waymo vehicle.
September 2025 – Tempe, Arizona
At 1:21 AM, a Waymo autonomous vehicle was slowing down with its right turn signal on when a motorcycle struck it from behind. The motorcyclist fell into the roadway and was subsequently hit by a passing car that fled the scene. The motorcyclist was transported to a hospital where they were pronounced dead. The Waymo vehicle was operating autonomously without passengers.
January 2025 – San Francisco, California
A high-speed multi-vehicle collision occurred at the intersection of Sixth and Harrison streets in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood. A black Tesla, reportedly traveling at approximately 98 miles per hour, struck multiple vehicles stopped at a red light. Among the impacted vehicles was an unoccupied, stationary Waymo car.
The crash resulted in the death of 27-year-old Mikhael Romanenko and his dog, with several others sustaining injuries. Authorities detained the Tesla driver on charges including vehicular manslaughter and are investigating potential involvement of substances and connections to hit-and-run incidents that occurred on Interstate 280 moments earlier.
As of January 2026, Waymo is active or testing in 20 states. Below are the 10 cities with the most incidents.
| Rank | City | Number of Incidents |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco | 863 |
| 2 | Phoenix | 197 |
| 3 | Los Angeles | 191 |
| 4 | Austin | 134 |
| 5 | Tempe | 93 |
| 6 | Las Vegas | 53 |
| 7 | Scottsdale | 48 |
| 8 | Chandler | 21 |
| 9 | Santa Monica | 21 |
| 10 | Atlanta | 20 |
There have been 268 Waymo accidents in Los Angeles, California between July 2021 and November 2025.
Below is a breakdown of where in Los Angeles these Waymo car accidents occurred.
| LA City | Number of Incidents |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 191 |
| Santa Monica | 21 |
| Culver City | 12 |
| Inglewood | 10 |
| West Hollywood | 8 |
| Beverly Hills | 7 |
| Venice | 7 |
| Barstow | 2 |
| Commerce | 1 |
| Downey | 1 |
| Gardena | 1 |
| Irvine | 1 |
| Los Angelas | 1 |
| Marina Del Rey | 1 |
| Riverside | 1 |
| San Bernardino | 1 |
| Tustin | 1 |
| Valencia | 1 |
As of November 2025, there are around 500-700 Waymo cars operating in Los Angeles. The service area covers around 80 square miles, stretching from Santa Monica to Downtown LA.
If you were injured in a collision, our Orange County car accident attorneys can help with your claim.
In May 2024, a driverless Waymo vehicle collided with a wooden utility pole in a Phoenix alley during a low-speed maneuver. No injuries occurred, but the incident led Waymo to voluntarily recall 672 self-driving cars to address the issue.
The company implemented a software update to enhance the vehicles’ ability to detect and respond to pole-like objects and made mapping improvements to better define road boundaries. These updates were applied to all affected vehicles by early June 2024, ensuring the fleet’s safe operation.
Then again in May 2025, Waymo issued a recall for 1,212 of its autonomous vehicles due to a software issue that could lead to minor collisions with roadside barriers such as gates and chains.
As autonomous vehicles become more common on public roads, questions of liability in the event of a crash grow increasingly complex. Unlike traditional accidents, where fault is typically assigned to one or more human drivers, self-driving car incidents introduce multiple potentially liable parties, each with different legal and technical responsibilities.
Waymo, as the developer of autonomous vehicle technology, could be held liable in cases where a system failure or programming flaw contributed to an accident. This might include errors in object recognition, failure to predict human behavior, or software bugs that lead to improper decision-making. If an accident is caused by a defect in the autonomous driving software or a malfunction of the vehicle’s sensors and hardware, liability may rest with Waymo and its technology providers.
If the autonomous vehicle itself, separate from its self-driving technology, has a mechanical failure—such as faulty brakes or steering malfunctions—the manufacturer of the car may share responsibility. Even if Waymo provides the self-driving software, the physical car is often produced by a third-party automaker, such as Jaguar or Chrysler, meaning a defect in the vehicle could make the manufacturer liable under product liability laws.
Waymo primarily operates fully autonomous vehicles, but liability can shift if a human is involved in the operation of the car. For instance, if a safety driver in a testing phase overrides the system and makes a negligent decision leading to a crash, that individual (or their employer) could bear some or all of the responsibility. In cases where passengers in a Waymo vehicle fail to follow safety guidelines or interfere with the vehicle’s operation, their actions may also come under scrutiny in legal disputes.
Not all self-driving car accidents are the fault of the autonomous system. If another driver, cyclist, or pedestrian acts negligently—such as by running a red light, making a sudden and illegal lane change, or jaywalking—liability may rest primarily with them. However, Waymo’s technology would still be examined to determine whether it appropriately reacted to avoid the accident.
In some cases, liability questions may extend to city or state governments responsible for maintaining safe road conditions. If an accident occurs due to poorly marked lanes, malfunctioning traffic signals, or other infrastructure issues, government agencies may bear partial responsibility. Additionally, regulatory bodies overseeing autonomous vehicle testing and deployment may be scrutinized for permitting operations in certain environments without sufficient oversight.
Unlike traditional accidents, where fault is assessed based on human decision-making, autonomous vehicle crashes require analysis of complex data logs, sensor inputs, and software decision-making processes. Investigators may need to examine whether the AI system performed as expected, whether any updates or patches were pending, and how the vehicle’s response compared to what a reasonable human driver would have done in the same situation.
As laws and regulations surrounding autonomous vehicles continue to evolve, liability in Waymo accidents remains a legal gray area. Courts and lawmakers will likely refine standards over time, determining clearer frameworks for responsibility as self-driving technology becomes more widespread.
Data Source: https://www.nhtsa.gov/laws-regulations/standing-general-order-crash-reporting