In-depth Analysis of Autonomous Vehicle Collisions in California

Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) are an inevitable aspect of future transportation systems. Major carmakers in addition to many technology companies are developing and testing new technologies to add self-driving cars to their portfolio. Under the autonomous vehicle testing regulations of California, many of these companies have already begun testing their AVs on the streets of California. As mentioned in this regulation, each company is obligated to report any incident within ten days after occurrence. Based on the collision reports, this paper provides a comprehensive overview and an in-depth analysis regarding all types of accidents which were documented as a part of testing regulations and in which at least one AV was involved. All data gathered from the collision reports are analyzed to identify the root cause of the accidents and to determine whether the AV was the cause of the accident, or on the contrary, it could have potentially avoided the accident. This paper highlights also the existing challenges and improvement potentials of autonomous systems based on current technologies and testing methods.