Report: Self-driving cars will only prevent a third of all crashes

Companies developing autonomous vehicle technology are fighting back against claims the introduction of self-driving cars will only prevent a third of all road crashes in the US.

Following an analysis of 5000 crashes, the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) concluded that autonomous vehicles would only prevent incidents involving driver perception error and accidents caused by incapacitation due to drink, drugs or health emergencies.

In response to the IIHS research, the autonomous automotive industry said its vehicles would prevent a vastly higher number of potential crashes than the report suggested, thanks to their increased sophistication.

A consortium of self-driving technology companies, Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE), said the IIHS did not consider the superior capability of next-gen driverless vehicle technology that would eliminate accidents caused by poor or distracted driving, or incorrect evasive manoeuvres.

In a statement issued in response to the IIHS, PAVE said driverless cars will prevent 72 per cent of crashes and that the US safety body's research was "fundamentally speculative".

Both General Motors and Swedish car-maker Volvo have previously declared driverless vehicle tech crucial to fulfil their aim of zero road deaths.

One of the IIHS' most vocal critics was Mobileye VP, Jack Weast, who told Reuters that a vast list of scenarios and human behaviour, collated by the industry, will allow driverless cars to navigate roads far more safely than human-piloted vehicles.

“Crashes will never be zero until we have no more human drivers on the road,” he said.

“But [self-driving cars] can combine physical laws with behavioural studies and do much more than a human driver.”