Self-driving cars could only prevent a third of U.S. crashes - study

FILE PHOTO: Highway signs usually used for traffic reports are now informing drivers to practice social distancing due to the global outbreak of coronavirus in Irvine, California, U.S., March 14, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake

(Reuters) - Self-driving cars, long touted by developers as a way to eliminate road deaths, could likely only prevent a third of all U.S. road crashes, an analysis of traffic accidents released on Thursday has found.

The study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), a research group financed by U.S. insurers, found the remaining crashes were caused by mistakes that self-driving systems are not equipped to handle any better than human drivers.