-- In the news 12.Nov.2024 --
* Waymo, an Alphabet company focusing on autonomous vehicles, compiled a dataset of pedestrian and cyclist injuries to enhance safety for vulnerable road users.

* The study was conducted to shed light on the underexamined area of traffic research related to injuries of vulnerable road users.

* Waymo partnered with Nexar to analyze 335 crashes involving pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists in six American cities. Notably, the data was heavily skewed toward incidents in New York City, where 80% of the analyzed crashes took place.

* Findings revealed that pedestrians and cyclists were more at risk of injury when they surprised drivers or faced geometric obstructions, ie. physical obstacles such as trees, bushes, buildings, or other vehicles that can obstruct the view or path of drivers.

* The dataset aims to provide insights into the frequency and severity of collisions to improve safety measures for vulnerable road users and autonomous vehicle technology.

By analyzing the data, Waymo aims to develop effective strategies to reduce injuries and fatalities involving pedestrians and cyclists. Additionally, the data has been used to study the circumstances of crashes to understand how, when, and why vulnerable road users are injured by drivers. This analysis can help in improving autonomous vehicle technology and overall road safety.