Waymo Accident Liability In Phoenix, Arizona

Rideshare services like Uber and Lyft have cemented themselves as convenient alternatives to traditional taxis. As technology increases our options even further, self-driving cars are becoming yet another way to get from Point A to Point B. Phoenix is one of the first cities to have Waymo roll out its self-driving vehicle rideshare program. Your opinion on this form of transportation growing in popularity may depend on your previous experiences with human drivers. Either way, as we see more Waymos traveling our streets, these vehicles will inevitably be involved in more and more traffic collisions. What happens if you are in an accident with a car with no driver? Read on for more information about this specific type of accident claim in Arizona. To schedule your free consultation with a personal injury lawyer in Phoenix or Tucson, contact our firm by calling 480-833-8000. 

How Does the Safety Compare?

Many people are hesitant to use Waymo because they have concerns about the safety of a self-driving vehicle. These fears are amplified by accidents involving Waymo vehicles making the headlines. The first fatal crash involving a Waymo vehicle occurred on January 19, 2025. However, this crash, like many others involving Waymo vehicles, was the other driver’s fault. Between July 2024 and February 2025, Waymo reported 38 serious accidents. In 34 of these crashes, the other driver appeared to be at fault. Of the remaining four, one accident was clearly Waymo’s fault, and the other 3 were unclear. Waymo’s own safety reports indicate that their vehicles get in far fewer crashes than vehicles operated by human drivers. Waymo reports 83% fewer airbag deployments in crashes and 92% fewer accidents resulting in serious injuries than in vehicles driven by humans. 

Waymo’s Insurance Policy

Waymo’s insurance policy is heavily focused on protecting itself from liability in traffic collisions, rather than protecting its customers from financial ruin after being injured in a crash in one of its vehicles. It has a $5 million liability policy, which is high compared to Uber’s $1 million liability policy. So while Waymo pours five times’ more resources into its liability policy than Uber, it does not match Uber in UM/UIM coverage. Uber provides $60,000 per person or $300,000 per accident in uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. This covers collisions with hit-and-run drivers and drivers who simply don’t have insurance coverage or the funds to pay after being involved in a traffic collision. Waymo has no such insurance policy, which would protect its passengers in case of a collision with an uninsured or underinsured driver. If a passenger is injured by another driver with no insurance coverage and Waymo was not at fault, the driver must pursue compensation through their own auto insurance policy’s UM/UIM coverage. Notably, Uber’s UM/UIM policy used to include $1 million in coverage, but they reduced it to its current levels after lobbying to have the statutory minimums reduced. 

How Fault Affects an Injury Award in Arizona

In most traffic collisions, it won’t be 100% one driver’s fault, cut-and-dried. Instead, there is a determination of fault, assigning a percentage of blame to each party involved in a car accident. Sometimes, the police will come to the scene of a traffic accident and issue a police report. That police report may contain a fault determination, but this isn’t considered official. The parties will conduct their own investigations of the accident to argue for what they believe should be the determination of fault in their traffic collision. This can take a great deal of time, effort, evidence, and input from experienced legal counsel. 

Why is it so important to determine the percentages of fault after a traffic collision? It can greatly affect the value of a personal injury claim, because Arizona is a comparative negligence state. Arizona allows a personal injury plaintiff to pursue a claim against a defendant, even if they were 99% at fault for an accident. However, this plaintiff would only be able to collect 1% of their total claim’s value. So if a driver is found to be 20% at fault for an accident, they can only collect 80% of their claim’s value. If they are found to be 50% at fault for an accident, their injury award will be reduced by half. Civil defense attorneys use this as a legal strategy to lower their clients’ liability and eventual payouts. 

Special Considerations for Accidents with Self-Driving Cars

Being involved in an accident with a self-driving vehicle is different than crashing with any other type of driver on the road. Some of the considerations a claimant in a Waymo or other self-driving vehicle accident should keep in mind include:

• Design vs. manufacturing defects: Waymo may try to shift accountability for a traffic collision to a manufacturer due to design or manufacturing defects. For example, a design defect would be a badly-calculated algorithm that can’t spot pedestrians, while manufacturing defects would be with a piece of equipment itself, such as malfunctioning sensors. 
• Limited case availability: Approximately 95% of personal injury claims are settled out of court. With how new self-driving vehicle technology is, there hasn’t been enough time to establish significant case law on personal injury claims with self-driving vehicles. Privately settled cases don’t become public case law, and there are also privacy concerns with releasing data from a litigant’s personal vehicle. 
• A passenger can be held liable: Waymo and other self-driving vehicles have safety instructions for passengers. They can be held liable for damages in an accident if they willfully ignore those instructions. 
• Detailed evidence: In a traffic collision, if at least one vehicle involved was a self-driving vehicle, there should be extensive data available from the incident. There should be dashcam footage, which some drivers have installed in their standard vehicles. Self-driving vehicles may have camera footage from other angles, sensor data, and ride logs, which can help reconstruct the conditions leading to a traffic collision. 
• Don’t forget pain and suffering: All too often, accident claimants recover any lost value in their vehicle, medical bills, and time missed from work. These are crucial damages to recover, but the insurance company will be eager to pay a settlement of just these expenses if the plaintiff fails to demand pain and suffering. This damage is typically calculated based on the total of the rest of the plaintiff’s damages, so it can double, triple, etc., the claim’s total value. It is meant to compensate an accident victim for the physical and mental anguish they experienced from an accident, as well as the loss of their enjoyment of life. 

Need to Pursue an Accident Claim Against Waymo? Contact Our Arizona Personal Injury Team Today. 

Waymo has advanced technology and access to a powerful legal team, which makes it difficult to pursue a claim after an accident with one of their vehicles. They fight claims aggressively to avoid setting a precedent and opening the floodgates to expensive injury claims. But you still deserve fair compensation for your damages after being injured in a collision with a Waymo vehicle. To level the playing field with a major corporation like Waymo, you need a skilled accident attorney who can put their experience to work for you. Handle your claim with a knowledgeable professional, all with a contingency fee that is competitive with other firms in our area. Learn more with your free consultation today by calling 480-833-8000.