Waymo city crash rankings put Miami first among robotaxi markets
Miami recorded the highest rate of intersection-related fatal crashes among the 15 Waymo cities at 6.41 per 100,000 residents in 2024, exceeding the national benchmark of 2.86.
Tampa followed at 5.81, Phoenix at 5.71, Dallas at 5.56 and Denver at 4.45. San Diego posted the lowest rate at 1.64 and San Francisco the next lowest at 2.07.
Tampa ranked fifth overall for fatal crashes at 13.32 per 100,000 residents while Miami ranked sixth at 13.03.
Denver placed fifth for intersection crashes at 4.45 yet 11th overall at 8.36 per 100,000 residents. Las Vegas recorded 4.44 for intersections.
Phoenix led overall fatal crashes at 16.06 per 100,000 residents, Dallas second at 15.47, Houston third at 13.87 and Nashville fourth at 13.35.
Intersection-related crashes accounted for 26.80 percent of all US fatal crashes in 2024 while 30 percent of cyclist deaths with known location occurred at intersections.
Miami congestion reached 46.80 percent, third among the 15 cities, while Denver stood at 37.60 percent in tenth place. Both cities exceeded the national intersection fatal rate despite their differing congestion levels.
Houston recorded an overall fatal rate of 13.87 per 100,000 residents, an intersection rate of 3.27 above the national 2.86 and a pedestrian death rate of 4.86 above the national 2.08.
Across 1,260 selected federal ADS reports filed August 2025 through July 2026, 51.7 percent involved an automated vehicle stopped or parked, 34.9 percent proceeding straight and 6.6 percent executing a left or right turn.
In the same 1,260 records, 89 percent reported no injuries, 9.4 percent injuries or fatalities and 1.6 percent unknown severity.
IIHS research found Waymo driverless cars recorded 68 percent fewer police-reportable crashes per mile than human drivers across four cities from 2021 to 2024.
Arizona posted the highest state ADS incident rate at 2.14 per 100,000 residents, California 1.73 and Nevada 1.04 against a national rate of 0.37.
Pedestrian ADS incidents remained limited with Arizona at 0.0131 and California at 0.0051 per 100,000 residents. Cyclist ADS rates included California at 0.0178, Texas at 0.0095, Georgia at 0.0088 and Florida at 0.0043.
The national pedalcyclist death rate rose from 0.324 per 100,000 residents in 2024 to 0.336 in 2025 even as overall traffic deaths declined, with 81 percent occurring in urban areas and 30 percent at intersections.
Texas requires Level 4 and Level 5 operators to obtain authorization and file emergency-interaction plans with the Department of Public Safety since May 2026. California maintains separate Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Utilities Commission oversight with a formal noncompliance process that began July 2026.
The analysis drew on NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System records for 2024, matching 2024 Census Bureau Vintage 2025 population estimates for the principal cities and applied no weightings or margins of error.
Miami's intersection rate exceeded the national figure by 3.55 while Denver's exceeded it by 1.59 even as its overall rate fell 2.32 below. The data indicate local road layouts and human-driver factors drive intersection danger rather than robotaxi turning behavior.
