Recent data shows that non-collision testing at Waymo and Zoox led to around two dozen injuries among test drivers in 2024 and 2025, mostly caused by hard braking or sudden automated maneuvers. A review by TechCrunch of data submitted to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), along with interviews with current and former workers, found that safety drivers testing autonomous vehicles on public roads have suffered injuries including sprains, strains, and whiplash. Some injuries were serious enough to keep workers away from the job for weeks or even months. However, not all injuries may have been recorded, as OSHA requires companies with 100 or more employees to publicly report certain workplace injury data. As a result, injuries involving test drivers in cities where operations are still in their early stages may not have been captured in the available data. Waymo’s autonomous driving technology has reportedly been linked to multiple workplace injuries. Transdev, which employs and manages Waymo’s test drivers, recorded 16 injuries across three Waymo depot locations after vehicles braked aggressively or swerved unexpectedly. As Waymo continued expanding into new service areas, the company likely increased the amount of autonomous vehicle testing required to familiarize its systems with unfamiliar roads and environments. Although Waymo does not disclose how many vehicles it dedicates specifically to testing, injuries among its test drivers also rose during this period. In 2024, Transdev reported five injuries involving Waymo test drivers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, one caused by hard braking and four attributed to erratic vehicle behavior. In one incident, a test driver reported that the car “suddenly backed up” while parking itself and “whipped the steering wheel.” This caused his left hand, with which he held the steering wheel, to bend “to the point he heard a crack in his wrist.”