Autonomous test vehicles in California were involved in 14.6 collisions per million vehicle miles in 2023, compared with 1.9 police-reported accidents per million miles for all US motor vehicles, according to a Statista chart updated June 26, 2025.

The figures come from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. More than 1,600 vehicles were registered for autonomous driving tests in 2023. During the reporting period from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023, those vehicles drove a total of 9 million miles on California public roads. Mandatory Autonomous Vehicle Collision Reports recorded 132 collisions, which produces the 14.6 rate. The chart reports this as an improvement over previous years.

The comparison rate comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which estimated 1.9 police-reported accidents per million vehicle miles traveled for 2023. The autonomous test rate is roughly 7.7 times that figure.

Statista data journalist Florian Zandt noted a reporting difference between the two datasets. Every minor collision involving an autonomous vehicle must be reported, while many minor accidents involving human drivers go unreported, so the rates are not measured the same way.

The analysis also recalls that California suspended the driverless testing permits of General Motors' autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise in San Francisco in 2023, after an accident involving a pedestrian. The chart is part of Statista's coverage of road accidents in the United States and sits alongside ongoing federal reviews of robotaxi crashes.

Source: Statista - https://www.statista.com/chart/32985/collisions-crashes-per-motor-vehicle-vehicle-miles-traveled-by-type-of-vehicle/