Test drivers employed by autonomous vehicle firms Waymo and Zoox sustained more than two dozen injuries in 2024 and 2025 as a result of hard braking or other sudden manoeuvres carried out by the self-driving vehicles, according to a TechCrunch investigation. This matters because it highlights a hidden human cost behind the industry's frequent claims that robotaxis make roads safer, raising questions about working conditions for the people still needed to test and oversee the technology.

Some workers were sidelined for months after suffering injuries such as whiplash caused by the vehicles stopping abruptly and forcefully, based on data submitted to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and interviews with current and former employees. TechCrunch notes that other AV developers likely have similar injury rates, but many are not required to report such incidents to OSHA, meaning the true scale of the problem across the industry remains unclear.