Transparency in AV Crash Data to Build Trust

1/21/20261 min read

The Progressive Policy Institute has proposed a new federal regulatory framework to address low public trust in autonomous vehicles (AVs) by improving transparency around their safety performance in October (as referenced in the January 2026 report), Waymo released its latest safety report for its autonomous ride-hailing service—one of the most comprehensive public views of self-driving vehicle safety yet.The data claims:

  • 90% reduction in serious injury or worse crashes compared to human drivers

  • 82% reduction in airbag deployment crashes

  • 81% reduction in injury-causing crashes overall

  • 92% fewer crashes involving pedestrian injuries

  • Zero fatalities in Waymo's operations to date

(Though self-reported, if accurate these would mark a major leap in road safety—traffic crashes are still a leading cause of death in the U.S.)Yet public trust remains very low. A 2025 survey found only 13% of U.S. drivers would trust riding in a self-driving vehicle, while 61% said they would be afraid to do so.This fear drives backlash: local opposition to driverless services, plus proposed federal bans (e.g., legislation from Sen. Josh Hawley that could effectively outlaw fully driverless cars nationwide).The core issue? Safety data is fragmented across federal/state/local levels with inconsistent reporting—no easy way to compare AVs apples-to-apples with human drivers. Without solid, accessible stats, headlines and rare bad incidents dominate the conversation.Solution proposed: a unified federal AV reporting standard with a practical two-layer system:

  1. A simple public-facing dashboard showing crash rates + direct comparisons to human-driven vehicles (broken down by weather, road type, time of day, etc.) — easy for anyone to understand.

  2. A detailed, granular database for regulators and researchers to support evidence-based rules and oversight.

It balances things: light reporting burden on companies, protects privacy/proprietary info, keeps room for innovation, but puts trustworthy data front and center for the public.Bottom line: high-quality, comparable safety numbers should drive the AV debate—not anecdotes—covering both real concerns (liability, jobs, cyber, ethics) and huge upsides (fewer crashes, better mobility access, less congestion, lower costs).

Citation: Andrew Fung, Alex Kilander, & Aidan Shannon, "Building Trust Through Transparency: A New Federal Framework for Autonomous Vehicle Safety," Progressive Policy Institute, January 14, 2026.
(Waymo stats from their late 2025 reports; trust figures from AAA survey reported Feb 2025.)