Autonomous vehicles (AVs) could have saved up to 1,300 lives in California over past three years, according to two a new study from Chamber of Progress.

The report – authored by Kaitlyn Harger, Senior Economist for Chamber of Progress – calculates how many lives would have been saved had California allowed for the full deployment of AVs over the last three years.

Examining the 2020 to 2022 period, the report found that AV deployment could have prevented 1,300 roadway fatalities, nearly 5,000 serious injuries, and 46,000 minor injuries over the last three years.

“It’s no secret why AVs are safer than human drivers: they don’t drive drunk, they don’t speed, and they don’t drive distracted,” said Chamber of Progress CEO Adam Kovacevich. “AVs have driven millions of miles, and we now have a very good sense for how AVs stack up against human drivers: they’re demonstrably safer. If California lawmakers are interested in stopping rising traffic fatalities, then more AV deployment means more lives saved.”

The report examines three economic scenarios for AV deployment, including a conservative deployment scenario, a moderate scenario, and an optimistic scenario. Even in a conservative deployment scenario, with AVs making up just 1.3% of total cars on the road, driverless cars would save an estimated 100 lives and prevent nearly 500 serious injuries over the same period.

In addition, Chamber of Progress published a new report from Harger examining traffic fatalities in New York and the power of autonomous vehicles (AVs) to reduce roadway deaths. Examining the 2018 to 2022 period, the report found that AV deployment could have prevented 500 roadway fatalities, 83,000 injuries, and 84,000 crashes.

Even in a conservative deployment scenario, with AVs making up just 1.3% of total cars on the road, driverless cars would have saved over 50 lives and prevented over 8,000 injuries over the same period.