Preparing for the Unexpected: A New Framework for AV Incident Management Exercises
Every driver — human or autonomous — can encounter the unexpected. The best time to work out how to respond to an emergency is before it happens.
Automated vehicles operate in dynamic environments where unexpected events can occur. Beyond collision avoidance, AV fleets need tools to prepare for and respond to major emergencies that can affect multiple vehicles — from natural disasters to complex transportation events. To help advance preparedness across the industry, Waymo researchers and incident readiness experts published a new paper introducing a first-of-its-kind framework to help AV developers plan, test and strengthen incident-management capabilities.
The framework adapts established emergency-management practices, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s established Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program, for automated vehicle operations. It provides a shared approach for AV developers, operational partners, first responders and public-safety agencies to design exercises, evaluate response and continuously improve emergency playbooks.
Why exercises matter
Incident-management exercises allow organizations to test plans, identify gaps and strengthen capabilities before they are needed in a real emergency.
The framework guides teams through each stage of an exercise － from planning and team activation through response and structured evaluation － helping organizations capture lessons and continuously strengthen their capabilities. It also outlines a range of exercises that can support different stages of preparedness:
Formative: consultations, seminars and workshops that help establish plans, roles and policies.
Educational: tabletop exercises and collaborative scenarios used to teach and refine playbooks.
Summative: drills and functional exercises that test specific systems and response capabilities.
Confirmatory: full-scale exercises designed to validate end-to-end readiness.
As organizations mature, exercises can become more complex and realistic. The goal is not simply to conduct larger exercises, but to choose the right exercise for the capability being tested.
Preparedness is deeply collaborative
AV companies do not respond to major events in isolation. Depending on the situation, effective response may require coordination among AV developers, operational partners, first responders, emergency-management agencies and other government entities. Exercises can help clarify roles, strengthen communication and improve coordination before an emergency occurs.
As autonomous technology continues to scale, preparedness practices should mature alongside it. By adapting established emergency-management practices into a common framework for AVs, the industry can help build stronger and more consistent approaches to incident readiness.
Read the full paper here.