According to a report published by Spherical Insights & Consulting, the global AI transportation market is expected to grow from USD $2.12 billion in 2023 to USD $10.25 billion by 2033, at a CAGR of 17.07%. And, according to Electro IQ, by 2030, AI tech will mean 15% of all new cars are fully autonomous.
Yet, as AI transport technology rapidly advances, consumers are increasingly worried about safety. A 2023 American Automobile Association survey found that 68% of those canvassed were afraid of AVs, up from 55% in 2022.
This study will consider how AI is affecting transport safety. We’ll look at its benefits to safety, and measure how justifiable safety worries are around self-driving vehicles, including taxi services. And we’ll consider the financial implications of the autonomous vehicles market.
Let’s first consider some broad autonomous vehicle factors in the United States.
AI and Autonomous Vehicles
AI technology in cars and autonomous vehicles is a growing factor. Such is the rapid advance and deployment of autonomous technology that a 2025 ElectroiQ study suggest 38% of cars on the U.S. automobile market now feature some level of vehicle autonomy. And this development means plenty of gains in both safety and cost savings.
In the latter case, for example, machine-learning-led AI programs can help plan routes and save fuel with optimum efficiency, saving up to 15% on costs, and between 10-15% on carbon emissions.
AI: Cutting Operational Costs
Here are some of the key cost savings due to the impact of AI on transportation.
- Optimized public transit costs 12%
- Reduced aviation maintenance costs 17.5%
- Reduced fuel use in logistics 20%
- Annual savings by 2030 60%
- Cutting transportation costs 15%
Broadly speaking, AI-led optimisation and efficiency are projected to deliver about USD $60 billion in annual savings for the transportation industry by 2030. This is the value of avoiding inevitable human error at a large scale, with saved resources potentially deployed elsewhere.
Companies that have already adopted wide-scale AI report transportation suggests cost reductions of around 15% due to better planning, automation, and instantaneous decisions. For autonomous truck companies, the cost of owning and operating heavy-duty trucks is reportedly down by as much as 42%.
AI also means a company deploying autonomous taxi vehicles can potentially save a significant amount on driver salaries and fuel efficiency across a 24/7 service.
Autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles
Autonomous Vehicles
The global robotaxi market size was approximately USD $1.76 billion in 2022, with an expectation of growth to USD $98.59 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 65.3%. Such projected growth figures may yet rise or fall, depending on safety outcomes.
So far, autonomous vehicle safety statistics suggest varying levels of success. For example, in 2023, Cruise’s robotaxi system recorded accidents every 43,000 miles, while the national human-driven accident average is around 192,000 miles.
And in March 2026, Fox News reported a Waymo self-driving vehicle blocking emergency service vehicles from attending the scene of a mass shooting. Clearly, there are still issues to resolve.
Yet (also from 2023) Tesla has demonstrated over 3.2 million miles per accident with their Full Self-Driving (FSD) autonomous vehicles, outperforming not only Cruise figures but also human-driven Teslas (588,000 miles per accident) and autonomous vehicle company Waymo (476,000 miles).
(For a comparison: according to ARK Invest, in 2022, the U.S. national average for accidents involving all vehicles was 192,000 miles per accident.)
But where are most self-driving accidents happening?
Here are the ten states that featured the highest number of self-driving car accidents between 2022 and 2025. (The list comprises both fully autonomous vehicles and vehicles equipped with full-autonomy driver assistance systems, such as Tesla’s FSD.)
The vast majority of self-driving crashes occurred in just a few states, with California far and away at the top of the list across all types of autonomous cars. Texas (345 crashes), Arizona (341), and Florida (213) all post high autonomous crash statistics; in Florida’s case, 191 of its 213 self-driving car accidents involved semi-autonomous, driver-assisted vehicles.
Conversely, here are the states that featured the lowest number of self-driving car accidents.
The expectation is that, by 2030, there’ll be 39 million autonomous vehicles on global roads. Study data suggests that, by 2045, around 60% of automobiles in the United States will be automated. And there’s much optimism about what this will do for the safety of national roads. For example, study data suggests:
- Autonomous vehicle testing has already decreased the number of accidents across the United States from 9.1 per million miles to 4.6 per million miles.
- About 25% of fatal car accidents result from the speed at which cars travel, and this should be better regulated with self-driving cars.
- By 2050, self-driving cars could save around 21,700 lives and prevent about 4.22 million accidents every year.
- Automation could lead to an 80% reduction in traffic-related problems.
- Automation could reduce car emissions by up to 90%.
- Automation could also save up to 90% on vehicle insurance premiums.
Additionally, autonomous fuel efficiency is predicted to rise by 10% to 20% and perhaps even higher. And the adoption of self-driving cars could reduce private car ownership in the U.S. by as much as 45%.
Fully autonomous vehicles are not the only types of automated vehicles. There are many different levels of automation, with a high number of cars on U.S. roads now equipped with a varying suite of automated features.
Autonomous Vehicles: Level 0 to Level 5
In terms of automation level, fully automated vehicles are considered ‘Level 5’, with ‘Level 0’ referencing a lack of automation, ‘Level 1’ meaning some driver assistance, ‘Level 2’ referring to partial automation such as acceleration and steering in some circumstances, ‘Level 3’ meaning conditional automation including the ability to take full control of the car in specific circumstances yet require regular driver assistance, and ‘Level 4’ the category that represents high automation and full driving capability with some extreme exceptions.
By the end of 2025, a reported 60% of all new cars sold globally were equipped with ‘Level 2’ autonomy. By 2030, ‘Level 3’ and ‘Level 4’ autonomous cars are expected to account for about 8% of new car sales.
But much of the autonomous vehicle rollout depends on consumer trust. Based on findings from some key study data, there’s plenty of work to be done on that score.
Autonomous Vehicles: Consumer Buy-In
According to the AAA, just 12% of U.S. consumers fully trust self-driving car technology. And while 46% have zero trust in autonomous car technology, 50% believe autonomous vehicles increase road safety.
According to 2025 projections, by 2030, nearly 50% of commercial sales will include vehicles featuring semi-autonomous technology, yet 73% of Americans are currently afraid to ride in a self-driving vehicle. So there’s a clear disjuncture between expected rollout and consumer mindset. But perceptions are slowly but surely evolving.
For example, although just 13% of U.S. drivers say they would trust riding in a self-driving vehicle, that’s an increase on findings from the previous year, when trust levels were 9%.
Similarly, in 2018, the percentage of polled respondents who felt that the number of autonomous cars on U.S. roads would increase accident figures was 55%. By 2021, the number had more than halved and was down to 27%.
These shifting changes in perception may well continue to follow the same positive trend, with much depending on growing safety levels as new, improved technology is introduced.
While there appears to be more skepticism regarding fully-automated as opposed to semi-autonomous cars, how do the actual figures stack up when we compare the number of accidents involving both types of vehicles?
Fully Autonomous Vs. Driver Assisted
Here’s an overview of the year-by-year driver-assisted and self-driving car accident totals for each year between 2022 and 2025. Bear in mind: driver-assisted is exactly that, and involves driver error.
An increase in numbers from year to year in both cases can be attributed to growing numbers of both vehicle types on U.S. roads. In both cases, the proportion of vehicles involved in accidents compared to the large number of vehicles on the road represents a low level of safety risk.
Here are the car brands that featured the highest accident rates among driver-assisted vehicles in 2025.
10 Car Brands With the Most Crashes in Driver Assistance Equipped Vehicles
Additionally, and to compare, here are the car brands that suffered the highest number of automated driving system accidents in 2025.
10 Car Brands With the Most Crashes in Automated Driving System (ADS)* Vehicles
AI in Transport: A Tool, Not a Safety Net
AI is now a firm fixture in transportation, and its prominence will inevitably grow as its standardized implementation becomes more prevalent.
t’s already managed to make cars safer in numerous ways and provides many cost-saving benefits to large transportation providers as well as individual motorists, with further significant benefits anticipated in the future.
Despite numerous gains, AI in transport doesn’t mean accidents won’t occur, nor does it absolve drivers of their enduring responsibility to drive safely.
It can help to reduce some types of crashes (especially those due to human error, such as distracted or impaired driving accidents), but its safety efficacy has limits.
By 2050, self–driving cars could save around 21,700 lives and prevent about 4.22 million accidents every year
As things stand, full autonomy on U.S. roads is some way off, with the technology not yet safe enough for anything like universal rollout.
In 2024, the number of self-driving car accidents nearly doubled: 544 reported crashes were far in excess of the 288 recorded in 2023. Similarly, semi-autonomous vehicle accidents increased 35% over the same period.
Clearly, there are still significant safety issues, and although autonomous safety levels are improving (with a rise in accident figures largely due to the much broader implementation of autonomous features) and public opinion is moving in the right direction, U.S. consumers remain widely skeptical about AI/autonomous driving developments.
Additionally, AI in cars also introduces numerous legal and safety questions, particularly around system failures, overreliance on automation, and unclear responsibility when crashes occur. Such grey areas will hopefully be resolved before mass-automation on American roads becomes a reality.
And there are numerous other factors set to come into play that will further shape the future of autonomous vehicles. More cities will begin wide autonomous roll-outs, often starting with limited service areas before scaling up.
As technology improves, mass production will be more feasible, and so costs will fall. Driverless trucking routes will continue to expand, particularly in the Sun Belt, where corridors are well-mapped and conditions are more consistent. And an adequate city system integration that can reliably handle traffic of all kinds, including autonomous vehicles, will scale faster, with fewer inherent issues.
Ultimately, while automated safety can offer significant safety benefits, human drivers, car manufacturers, and software developers remain liable when it comes to road safety and the prevention of accidents and fatalities on U.S. roads.
Overall, statistical data confirms that there’s some room for optimism regarding the growing safety of autonomous vehicles. That said, continuing safety gains are crucial to continue the shift in public perception that’s necessary to facilitate a potentiated autonomous vehicle future.
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