And guess what? California has some pretty sweet data on how well they do (or don’t) when it comes to disengagement rates and mileage.

To start what the ***** is a “disengagement”? Well, my friend, it’s basically when the AV decides that it needs human help because it can’t handle a situation on its own. This could be anything from encountering construction or an unexpected obstacle to dealing with bad weather conditions. When this happens, the driver takes over and resumes control of the vehicle.

Now mileage data how far these AVs are actually driving without disengaging. According to the California DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles), as of December 2021, there have been a total of 36 million miles driven by autonomous vehicles in the state. That’s pretty impressive! But here’s where things get interesting out of those 36 million miles, AVs disengaged over 45,000 times. Yikes!

So what does this mean? Well, it means that while AVs are making progress in terms of mileage and technology, they still have a long way to go when it comes to reliability. In fact, the average disengagement rate for AVs in California is around 0.78 per thousand miles driven (as of December 2021). That might not sound like much, but trust me if you’re driving down the highway and suddenly your car decides it needs human help every few hundred feet, that can be pretty ***** frustrating!

But hey, at least we’re making progress. According to a recent report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), disengagement rates for AVs have been steadily decreasing over time. In fact, in 2018, the average disengagement rate was around 3.5 per thousand miles driven that’s almost five times higher than it is today!

So what can we learn from all this data? Well, for starters, AV technology is improving rapidly and will likely continue to do so in the coming years. But at the same time, there are still some major challenges that need to be addressed namely, reliability and safety concerns. As AI researchers and engineers, it’s our job to work together to address these issues and make sure that AVs become a safe and reliable option for everyone on the road.

Thanks for reading, and stay safe out there!