Waymo Expands to Munich, Releasing Outstanding Safety Data
Waymo has announced its expansion into Munich, Germany, marking its third overseas market, while releasing data showing its autonomous vehicles have a severe injury accident rate 16 times lower than human drivers over 350 million kilometers of driving. This expansion and safety milestone bolster the commercial viability of Level 4 autonomous driving in complex European urban environments, potentially accelerating global regulatory approvals. In the initial phase, Waymo's vehicles in Munich will be driven by humans to perform high-definition road mapping, with plans to launch commercial Level 4 autonomous ride-hailing services by late next year.
## BACKGROUND
Level 4 (L4) autonomy refers to vehicles that can perform all driving tasks under specific conditions without human intervention. To operate safely, these vehicles rely heavily on High-Definition (HD) maps, which provide centimeter-level precision and detailed road information beyond what real-time sensors can detect.