Mounting research shows that vehicle safety technologies are making roads safer and reducing insurance claims.

Why it matters: Nearly 40,000 people — including more than 7,000 pedestrians — die each year in U.S. vehicle-related accidents.

Driving the news: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today reported that traffic deaths fell 6.7% in 2025 from the year before, to an estimated 36,640.

• And the year saw the second-lowest traffic fatality rate on record, with 1.10 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, according to NHTSA.

Between the lines: The Highway Loss Data Institute recently found significantly fewer insurance claims for cars equipped with safety features like automatic front and rear emergency braking, lane departure prevention and high-beam assist.

• HLDI's study, announced in March, found that cars with one basic feature — automatic emergency braking, known as AEB — saw a 13% reduction in property damage claim rates.
• Bundling safety features together — AEB with pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control, high-beam assist, lane departure warning and prevention and rear emergency braking — saw up to a 39% drop in claims, the data showed.

Separately, preliminary data from the Governors Highway Safety Association found pedestrian deaths dropped nearly 11% in the first half of 2025 from the same period the prior year.

• A report accompanying GHSA's data did not directly attribute reasons for the decline, but noted that AEB can improve safety.
• Previous data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, from 2022, found that the feature reduces pedestrian crashes by 27%.

By the numbers: The drop in pedestrian deaths in the first half of 2025 is the largest annual decline since GHSA began tracking pedestrian fatalities 15 years ago.

💵 Friction point: Critics, including some in Congress, have said advanced technologies are driving up the price of new vehicles, though others put the blame on convenience features — like hands-free power liftgates and fancier sound systems.

What we're watching: The impacts of hands-free driving systems. 🙌

• While crash prevention technologies can save lives, there is continued scrutiny on more advanced systems that add automation to these building block technologies, enabling drivers to take their hands off the wheel in certain situations.
• NHTSA is escalating its safety probe into Tesla's Full Self-Driving software after a series of crashes, for example.
• Yesterday, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that drivers' overreliance on Ford's Blue Cruise hands-free system contributed to two fatal crashes.

NTSB is calling for stricter performance standards for these automated systems and improvements to driver monitoring systems.

The bottom line: Cars are getting better at preventing crashes — but drivers' growing reliance on automation may be creating new ways for things to go wrong.

Go deeper.

Hyundai's reveal of the rugged Boulder concept vehicle at this week's New York International Auto Show is proof that automotive trade shows can still generate excitement.

Why it matters: It's the Korean auto giant's first true truck platform and a shot across the bow of Detroit's domestic automakers, who dominate the category.

• While the Boulder is an SUV-shaped design, it previews a new body-on-frame architecture that will underpin future rugged products capable of serious off-roading, towing and hauling.
• A midsize pickup will be the first model and will arrive by 2030.

Between the lines: The Boulder concept's creation was led by the Southern California-based team at Hyundai Design North America.

• It was developed with a specific focus on catering to the desires of off-road enthusiasts and the goal of attracting new buyers to the Hyundai brand.
• The body-on-frame truck is one of 36 new Hyundai vehicles coming to North America by 2030.
• It will be built in the U.S., using steel produced at a recently announced Hyundai steel plant in Louisiana.

What they're saying: "The Boulder Concept demonstrates how Hyundai is seeking to give American customers more of what they want," CEO José Muñoz said.

• "Body-on-frame vehicles are the backbone of American work and adventure, and we intend to compete in the midsize pickup segment with everything we have."
• "We are entering segments we have never competed in before, and we are doing it the right way: designed in America, built by Americans for American customers."

Other noteworthy debuts in New York include a redesigned VW Atlas family SUV, a next-generation Kia Seltos small SUV and the all-electric Subaru Getaway, which shares its electric chassis with the new Toyota Highlander EV.

Delivery robots manage to navigate the world remarkably well most of the time, but autonomy has its limits.

• Wheeled robots with no arms can't push elevator buttons or open doors, for example. But with the help of AI, they'll soon be able to ask for help.

Why it matters: People and robots will increasingly interact in the real world — at work, stores and even on the street. But the technology needs to be seamless to avoid chaos and frustration.

🤖 Driving the news: Serve Robotics, with 2,000 sidewalk robots across 20 cities, is partnering with T-Mobile to introduce new AI-powered conversational robots that interact, engage and think in the moment.

• A prototype of Serve's next-gen delivery bot, which they call Maggie, is friendly and engaging — and not afraid to ask for help.
• "Excuse me, could you push the button for me?" Maggie asks a pedestrian at a busy crosswalk. "Thank you," the robot says, as the pair cross the street together in a promotional video.

The big picture: Until recently, the biggest challenge has been designing robots to safely navigate the physical world — to see and avoid obstacles, for example.

• Now, as large language models have advanced, robots can add real-time comprehension and communication.

What they're saying: "We have solved the final pieces of the puzzle needed for robots to fully integrate into society," Serve Robotics' CEO Ali Kashani tells Axios.

Yes, but: Giving language and comprehension capabilities to robots takes a ton of battery power and computing effort — resources they need to navigate the world.

⚙️ How it works: That's where T-Mobile's edge AI network helps.

• It provides low latency, enhanced security and localized data processing, avoiding trade-offs in robot battery life, operating time and added hardware cost.

What's next: So far, Maggie is Serve Robotics' only conversational robot, but Kashani is convinced they'll be everywhere eventually.

• "This is the direction the world is going to move, and we're trying to be at the forefront of it."

🎤 Musician Will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas fame is touting his new three-wheeled electric vehicle, Trinity, as an AI agent, and says building it will help revive left-behind communities. (Axios)

💰 The chauffeur business is heating up as more companies compete for the privilege of driving rich people around.

• Uber has acquired the chauffeur booking app Blacklane. London-based Wheely is expanding to New York City. And Lyft bought TBR Global Chauffeuring. (Bloomberg)

🤟 Waymo's multilingual robotaxis now support 10 languages, up from three. The app and in-car screens now work in Japanese, Korean, Polish, Italian, French, German and British English, in addition to Spanish, U.S. English, and Chinese.

• 🚘 Waymo is also adding robotaxi pickups and drop-offs at San Antonio International Airport. It's the fourth airport served by Waymo (following PHX, SFO, and SJC).

📦 Manna Air Delivery, based in Dublin, raised $50 million to scale further in Europe and the United States, including Dallas and Tulsa.

🇨🇳 A number of robot taxis abruptly stopped moving in traffic yesterday in Wuhan, China. The cars were part of the Apollo Go program of self-driving cars run in Wuhan by Baidu.

• Local police cited an unspecified "system failure," with the incident leading to stranded passengers and blocked traffic. (NYT)

2026 Lincoln Nautilus hybrid

• MSRP: Starts at $53,995. As tested: $85,875 for the loaded Black Label hybrid with a noir Jet Appearance package.
• Under the hood: 250-hp gas engine (24 mpg) or 310-hp hybrid (30 mpg)

What's new: Blue Cruise's latest assisted-driving tech changes lanes automatically.

• Plus: A new "Aurora" interior theme is inspired by the northern lights.

What I loved: The digital screen spans the width of the car, displaying easy-to-read information at a glance, without being a distraction.

• Lincoln's multisensory Rejuvenate feature adjusts the lighting, climate, seats, massage, sound and aromas to help you relax when the car is parked.

What drove me crazy: It's unnerving when the vehicle changes lanes on its own to pass another car, but I eventually got used to it.

I test-drive vehicles in my role as a juror for the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards. Opinions are my own.