Waymo And Zoox Robotaxi Test Drivers Left Injured From Self-Driving Cars It turns out that some autonomous cars are a little heavy on the brakes — to the point that it's causing injuries to test drivers. After looking at data supplied to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, TechCrunch found evidence of injuries from hard braking and sudden maneuvering, such as whiplash and sprains, suffered by test drivers working for Waymo and Zoox in 2024 and 2025. Transdev, which employs testers for Alphabet-owned Waymo, reported 11 injuries from 2025 in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, caused largely by aggressive braking. In one incident, a driver in Phoenix was unable to work for more than 150 days after an unexplained braking event. In at least two other incidents, hard braking occurred for no clear reason, raising the possibility that Waymo's autonomous-driving system may have incorrectly perceived an obstacle. Similarly, Zoox drivers described repeated abrupt braking events, sometimes triggered by non-existent road debris. In some cases, the vehicle stopped suddenly during a so-called "nogo" event, which involves a total shutdown of the autonomous systems in response to an internal issue. Responding to the findings, Waymo, which has been expanding its robotaxi fleet to major U.S. cities, said safety is its main priority and pointed to the tens of millions of miles driven with human operators as part of ongoing development work. Zoox, meanwhile, said it takes worker injuries seriously, while noting that braking hard is sometimes necessary. It added that the reported injuries were minimal compared to the millions of miles driven during fleet testing. Read more: 9 Cool Gadgets Every Motorcycle Rider Needs Deciding when to brake These incidents highlight the engineering challenge at the center of autonomous braking systems. Getting a vehicle to respond to hazards quickly while ensuring