Self-driving cars operated by Waymo are logging significantly more miles on California public roads than their competitors, and the Google project?s cars are traveling significantly more miles without experiencing disengagements of their autonomous technology, according to reports released by the California Department of Motor Vehicles. The reports, released on February 1, show that Waymo?s vehicles accumulated 635,868 miles of driving on the state?s public roads in 2016, more than the 10 other companies reporting figures combined.
More important, Waymo?s cars traveled farther before experiencing disengagements of their technology for software malfunctions or because the human drivers intervened. Waymo, the company spun off from Google last year, experienced an average of one disengagement for every 5127.9 miles traveled, a rate far better than its competitors reported.
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?By any measure, we’re happy with our progress,

but anxious to work even harder.?

? Dmitri Dolgov, Waymo

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?By any measure, we?re happy with our progress, but anxious to work even harder,? wrote Dmitri Dolgov, head of self-driving technology for Waymo.
Reports Measure Progress?and Technical Struggles
The public gets an annual snapshot at these autonomous driving reports once a year, thanks to California regulations that mandate disclosure of the number of miles traveled and the number of disengagements experienced. The reports are helpful in gauging general competence and progress, and in some...