Safety drivers testing robotaxis for Waymo and Zoox logged at least 24 workplace injuries in 2024 and 2025 tied to hard braking or other sudden vehicle movements, according to a TechCrunch review of federal OSHA injury data.

Waymo's test drivers, who are employed and managed by contractor Transdev, accounted for 16 of those injuries across San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix. The count rose from five in 2024 to 11 in 2025. One of the 2024 injuries came from hard braking and four from erratic vehicle behavior, while hard braking caused nearly all of the 2025 cases.

Some injuries kept workers off the job for months. A Los Angeles case in August 2025, after a hard stop for children in the vehicle's path, led to 175 days away from work. A Phoenix case in September 2025, which the record described as an exaggerated braking event with no obstruction, led to 157 days away.

Zoox records showed up to eight worker injuries linked to hard braking, with seven of them explicitly citing hard braking or sudden brake activation. The longest absence was 46 days, following a May 2025 incident in Las Vegas. Four of the 2025 Zoox injuries occurred after a recall intended to resolve a federal investigation into unexpected braking. Zoox also reported two robotaxi crashes to NHTSA in the past eight months in which hard braking for debris led to rear-end collisions.

Waymo said safety is of paramount importance and that it has driven tens of millions of miles with human operators. Zoox said the injuries represent a small percentage of the millions of miles its test fleet has traveled. OSHA public disclosure rules cover only larger establishments in certain transit industries, so the data may not capture every test driver.

Source: TechCrunch -- https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/27/sprains-pain-and-whiplash-waymo-and-zoox-test-drivers-are-getting-hurt-as-robotaxis-scale/