Auto injuries are my job. I want Waymo to put me out of work. | Opinion

For the entirety of my 34-year career as a plaintiff personal injury lawyer in Phoenix, the calls have been heartbreakingly familiar: a parent and spouse is paralyzed because someone was texting; a pedestrian on a sidewalk is killed because a driver had “just two drinks”; a family is shattered by speeding, fatigue or road rage.

My livelihood depends on car crashes, including fatal pedestrian collisions, which have surged over a 13-year period. But I’m telling you plainly, autonomous driving technology doesn’t get drunk, distracted, tired or tempted to speed. These are the very human failures that cause most wrecks. As this technology improves and becomes more widespread, it will shrink the very cases that keep attorneys like me busy. Help me find a new line of work. The sooner, the better.

In November, the technology took a tangible step forward. Waymo began carrying riders on freeways in the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles and Phoenix. This is the first time a U.S. robotaxi service will include freeways for members of the public (rolling out to early-access riders first, then broader availability). For some trips, freeway routing can cut travel times dramatically, a practical win that encourages more people to choose a driver who does not drink, text, rage or fall asleep.

Cat killed by Waymo fuels backlash to autonomous vehicles

We are on the cusp of a safety revolution, yet we risk derailing it with a fear-first reflex, and one that is amplified whenever a rare autonomous vehicle (AV) mistake dominates headlines while the daily toll of human driving error goes underreported.

The World Health Organization estimates 1.2 million road deaths each year, with tens of millions more injured. Human behavior remains the dominant factor.

This dynamic recently played out in San Francisco, which is grieving the loss of a beloved feline, “KitKat,” tragically killed by a Waymo vehicle. I share that grief. But the uproar-fueled proposal to let counties vote robotaxis in or out is misguided and will only create a patchwork that would splinter oversight and choke off the comparable data we need to keep improving safety. Autonomous vehicles should not have to stop at a county line.

The choice is not between imperfect technology and perfect safety. It is between imperfect, improving technology and the demonstrably lethal status quo of human driving.

When an AV makes a mistake, it often becomes national news. When a human driver kills someone, which happens constantly, it rarely makes the local news.

And the data is moving in the right direction. Across 96 million miles without a human driver through June 2025 in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix and Austin, Waymo's self-reported analysis shows 91% fewer serious injury crashes, 79% less airbag deployment crashes and 92% fewer injury-resulting pedestrian collisions.

In addition, Waymo's reports show 89% less injury-caused motorcycle collisions and 78% fewer injury-related cyclist crashes. 

That is not perfection. That is progress worth protecting.

Where are robotaxis, Wamyo operating?

Here's where AVs are operating and where they plan to start:

• Waymo's public robotaxi service ‒ Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles (now including freeways).

• Order Waymo via Uber ‒ Austin and Atlanta, as of June (street speeds, not freeways yet).

• Next Waymo announced markets ‒ Las Vegas, San Diego and Detroit in 2026 (pending local approvals).

• New York City ‒ Waymo's autonomous vehicle testing with safety drivers permitted in Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn; no public robotaxi service yet.

• Abroad ‒ commercial service remains U.S. only; Waymo has begun data collection in Tokyo and plans a London pilot in 2026, subject to standards and approvals.

We should not hold AVs to a zero-risk standard, which is a standard that human drivers fail every single day. What we should do is demand transparency and continuous improvement.

We should build on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Standing General Order on crash reporting framework and pass the AV Safety Data Act to require standardized reporting of miles, collisions and unplanned stops so the public can compare robotaxis with human drivers, apples to apples.

As someone who talks to victims and families every day, I see the ravages of impairment, distraction, speed, rage and fatigue. They all end the same way: death or serious injury. Enough. Let us fix problems when they arise and keep scaling a technology that, governed wisely, could cut the carnage.

We should grieve KitKat, not feed the anti-tech reflex – and let reason drive.

Marc Lamber is a trial attorney and chair of the Lamber Goodnow personal injury group at Fennemore. The views expressed are his own.