Last month, the autonomous vehicle company, Waymo, announced plans to expand its self-driving taxi service, or robotaxis, to Washington D.C. starting in 2026. But with its upcoming expansion to the district, the company faces a significant legal hurdle: current DC law prohibits autonomous vehicles without a human driver present.
Encouragingly, local officials have shown signs of reconsidering these restrictions. In response to inquiries from The Verge, The District Department of Transportation indicated they are evaluating potential regulatory changes to make it possible for Waymo to offer its services in the city.
The deployment of self-driving vehicles is set to improve road safety, and regulators should swiftly update laws accordingly. The move towards freedom and safety will likely need to happen in spite of resistance from critics.
Waymo already operates in San Francisco and Phoenix. If Waymo’s experience in San Francisco is any indication, protests may soon follow the move to DC. Protestors and autonomous vehicle skeptics often point to incidents involving automated cars.
But protestors miss the point: autonomous vehicles will save lives! Comparing autonomous vehicles to a perfect world is the wrong metric. What really matters is if autonomous vehicles will be safer than human drivers. Since automated vehicles do not get tired, operate under the influence of intoxicants, or routinely engage in distracted driving, early evidence already suggests improved safety outcomes. And the technology itself is still improving.
The reality is that America’s roads are already hazardous—but people, not robotaxis, are the reason why. A study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that human error accounts for approximately 94 percent of all traffic accidents. Research from Penn State University supports this, showing that self-driving cars are involved in fewer crashes and cause fewer fatalities. Waymo’s internal data echoes these findings, reporting lower crash rates measured by an 88 percent decrease in property insurance claims and fewer injuries measured by a 92 percent decrease in bodily harm insurance claims in autonomous vehicle incidents compared to human-driven ones.
History shows that technological advancements—especially automobile technology advancements—often face initial skepticism. When automobiles were first introduced, concerns about pedestrian safety led to widespread opposition—yet today, they are indispensable. New technology has created the opportunity to keep the ease and mobility of cars, while also reducing the number of lives lost due to preventable traffic accidents. American consumers cannot afford to let unfounded fears and outdated laws keep this technology from being deployed.
Given the promising track record of autonomous vehicles, DC regulators should amend outdated laws to allow their operation. The evidence is clear: self-driving technology has the potential to revolutionize transportation and save lives—if politicians will let it.
Trey Price is a policy analyst with the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization. For more information about the Institute, follow us on X @ConsumerPal.