Driverless Cars Are Here: Are Self-Driving Cars Safe?

Driverless cars once sounded like something that was only in science fiction TV shows. Today, there are driverless vehicles carrying passengers throughout cities across the nation, including in Florida. Fully autonomous rideshare services have reached Miami and Orlando through Waymo, and autonomous vehicle technology, such as that offered by Tesla, continues to expand across Florida.

For drivers who are living in or traveling through Tampa and other surrounding areas in Florida, this growth in driverless vehicles raises important concerns about safety. Autonomous vehicles have been designed to reduce some of the human behaviors that cause crashes, including distraction, fatigue, speeding, and impaired driving. At the same time, these driverless or autonomous vehicles must be able to safely respond to pedestrians, motorcycles, construction zones, and other conditions found on Florida’s roadways. This is why many people wonder whether self-driving cars are safe to use in Florida.

At Abrahamson & Uiterwyk Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers, our team of Tampa car accident lawyers represents people who have been injured in motor vehicle crashes throughout the Tampa area, including in Waymo and Tesla accidents. As self-driving vehicles become more common in the state, determining how an accident occurred and who may be held liable could involve both traditional accident evidence and data from the vehicle’s automated driving system.

What Is a Self-Driving Car?

The term self-driving car is often used to describe different levels of vehicle technology that are now available to the public. Many cars already have driver-assistance features including:

• Adaptive cruise control
• Automatic emergency braking
• Lane-centering technology
• Parking assistance
• Blind-spot monitoring

These features help the driver stay safe on the roadways. Still, the person behind the wheel remains responsible for operating the vehicle and ensuring they provide a proper duty of care to those around them.

A fully autonomous vehicle goes further than offering standard driver assistance features. Its automated driving system performs the entire task of driving instead of the driver.

Waymo began welcoming public riders to its fully autonomous vehicles in Miami in January 2026. Its initial service area covered around 60 square miles, including:

• Wynwood
• Brickell
• Coral Gables
• Design District

In April 2026, Waymo officially started offering autonomous rideshare services in both Miami and Orlando to the general public.

Tesla has also expanded autonomous rideshare services into Florida, as they started offering Robotaxi service to those in Miami in 2026. This means that autonomous transportation is no longer simply a future possibility for Florida residents, but it is a current reality.

Are Self-Driving Cars Safe?

Available self-driving car accident data suggests that some autonomous vehicles may have lower crash rates than human drivers in certain categories.

One of the largest publicly available types of autonomous driving safety data comes from Waymo. The Waymo Safety Impact dashboard compares crashes involving fully autonomous Waymo vehicles with estimated and average crash rates for human-driven vehicles that travel on similar roads.

Through March 2026, Waymo reported that its vehicles had traveled approximately 220.6 million rider-only miles, meaning they were miles traveled without a human driver. Compared with human-driver benchmarks that were previously discussed, Waymo reported:

• 94% fewer serious-injury-or-worse crashes
• 82% fewer crashes resulting in an airbag deployment
• 82% fewer injury-causing crashes
• 93% fewer pedestrian injury crashes
• 84% fewer cyclist injury crashes
• 84% fewer motorcyclist injury crashes

These statistics suggest that using vehicles with autonomous technology has the potential to reduce certain serious crashes on Florida’s roadways, as they have done in other cities they have operated in for years, including Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin. That does not mean self-driving vehicles cannot cause or become involved in accidents. Performance of a self-driving vehicle can vary based on the:

• Automated driving system
• Location
• Weather
• Road conditions
• Other factors

Florida-Specific Waymo Safety Data

Waymo is now operating in Florida, but there is an important limitation when individuals are trying to find statistics on Waymo accidents in Florida.

As of August 2026, Waymo’s Safety Impact dashboard does not currently provide a separate Miami or Orlando crash-rate comparison, which is mainly due to the fact that their vehicles haven’t been operating in the state for very long. Its city-level crash tables provide data through March 2026, which provides enough mileage for comparisons in other established operating areas, but Florida’s newer services have not yet gathered the same amount of published location-specific data.

This is important to note as Florida operations grow. Driving conditions in the state can include:

• Heavy tropical rain
• Flooding
• Busy tourist areas
• Frequent construction
• Large numbers of pedestrians and cyclists

The more miles that Waymo vehicles drive in Florida will eventually provide additional information about how autonomous vehicles perform under Florida conditions.

What Research Says About Self-Driving Car Safety

A 2024 study published in the National Library of Medicine examined approximately 7.14 million miles that were driven by Waymo vehicles without a human driver. Researchers in the study then compared Waymo crashes with estimated and averaged human-driver crash rates in the areas where those vehicles operated.

For crashes where an injury was reported, Waymo’s self-driving vehicles had a rate of 0.6 accidents per million miles, compared with 2.8 accidents per million miles for the human-driver vehicles. That means that Waymo vehicles are involved in accidents approximately 80% less than human-driven vehicles.

For police-reported accidents that were reviewed in the study, the self-driving vehicles without a driver had a rate of 2.1 incidents per million miles, compared with 4.68 incidents per million miles for human drivers. That was approximately 55% lower than the rate for human-driven vehicles.

The researchers described the results as promising, especially for injury and police-reported crashes in cities where self-driving vehicles are present. The study also explained that some property-damage comparisons were less certain because comparing autonomous vehicle reports with human crash reporting can be difficult.

It is important to note that the study’s authors were affiliated with Waymo, which is worth considering when reviewing the research.

Why Self-Driving Cars Could Reduce The Number Of Serious Accidents In Florida

Many accidents in Florida are caused by a driver’s mistake. This is often due to negligence and can include:

• Looking at a phone
• Driving after drinking
• Becoming tired behind the wheel
• Following another vehicle too closely
• Failing to notice a pedestrian

An autonomous driving system does not become sleepy or intoxicated, and it does not check a text message. Self-driving technology may therefore reduce crashes in Florida that are associated with:

• Distracted driving
• Impaired driving
• Drowsy driving
• Speeding
• Following too closely
• Failure to check blind spots
• Delayed reactions to changing traffic conditions

Autonomous vehicles can also use cameras and other sensors to continuously monitor their surroundings and prevent accidents from occurring. These advanced driving technology capabilities could help reduce crashes caused by certain forms of human error.

Self-Driving Cars Still Present Safety Concerns On Roadways

Lower crash rates in self-driving vehicles, whether they are owned or used as a rideshare system, do not make autonomous vehicles risk-free. Florida has challenging road conditions for any driving system, autonomous or human-operated. Common challenging road conditions mean that:

• Heavy rain can quickly reduce visibility
• Roads can flood
• Construction can change traffic patterns
• Pedestrians, bicyclists, or motorcyclists can unexpectedly enter a vehicle’s path

Automated driving systems also depend on functioning software, sensors, cameras, and other equipment. A technical failure, damaged sensor, outdated information, or unusual road situation could affect how a vehicle responds, which could result in a dangerous situation.

Safety results from one company also should not automatically be applied to another. Waymo, Tesla, and other self-driving vehicle developers use different vehicles, software, sensors, testing procedures, and approaches to automated driving, which means that no two companies have the same systems. Each system should be evaluated for safety using data related to that particular technology.

What Does Florida Law Say About Driverless Cars?

Florida law permits autonomous vehicles to be on public roadways. Under Florida Statutes § 316.85, a licensed human operator is not required to operate a fully autonomous vehicle on a public roadway. Florida law also allows a fully autonomous vehicle to operate when no human operator is physically present inside the vehicle. When a self-driving vehicle is engaged, Florida law typically considers that system the vehicle’s operator for purposes of the state’s traffic laws.

Florida also has specific requirements for autonomous vehicles under Florida Statutes § 319.145. A self-driving vehicle that is registered in the state must meet applicable requirements under Florida law as well as applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards. A fully autonomous vehicle must also be capable of reaching a “minimal risk condition” if its automated driving system fails and cannot continue performing the driving task. In simpler terms, the vehicle must have a way to place itself in a reasonably safe condition when its automated system can no longer operate properly.

Who Is Responsible for a Self-Driving Car Accident?

Determining liability in an accident involving a self-driving car could be more complicated than in a traditional two-car accident. Depending on what caused the accident, potentially responsible parties could include:

• Another motorist
• The autonomous vehicle owner
• An autonomous ride-hailing company
• The vehicle manufacturer
• A company responsible for the automated driving technology
• Another person or business whose negligence contributed to the crash

Contact Our Tampa Car Accident Lawyers After a Self-Driving Car Accident

Current research and real-world data on self-driving vehicles in Florida show that some autonomous driving systems may reduce certain types of injury crashes when compared with human drivers, but no driving system can prevent every accident.

Our team at Abrahamson & Uiterwyk Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers helps people who have been injured in motor vehicle accidents throughout the Tampa area. Our car accident attorneys can investigate the circumstances surrounding a crash, identify potentially responsible parties, and pursue available compensation when supported by the facts.