Why companies don’t share AV crash data – and how they could - Robohub

The article discusses the reluctance of autonomous vehicle (AV) companies to share crash and safety data, which is critical for improving AV safety. Despite decades of AV testing and strong industry incentives, companies treat this data as proprietary intellectual property that provides a competitive edge, leading to limited transparency and collaboration. A Cornell research team explored this issue by interviewing AV safety employees and found that data sharing is hindered by political challenges within companies and the perception that safety knowledge is private rather than a public good. Current U.S. and European regulations require only minimal crash information, failing to capture the complex, underlying factors that contribute to accidents. To address these barriers, the researchers propose distinguishing between proprietary technical data and safety knowledge that can be shared without compromising competitive advantages. For example, companies could share summarized accident details or standardized “exam questions” that AV systems must pass, enabling broader safety improvements without exposing sensitive infrastructure. The team suggests that academic institutions could serve as neutral intermediaries to facilitate data sharing, ultimately making AV safety