The last time we wrote about Google’s self-driving cars, they have been involved in as many as 11 accidents, but none of them were the autonomous cars’ fault. This recent accident, however, is definitely caused by one of the cars: it has hit the side of a bus.
While this may sound like a serious accident, it is actually a very minor one. According to Google, its self-driving Lexus RX450h – which had a human test driver on-board – hit the side of the bus at…less than 5 kilometres per hour. The bus, on the other hand, was travelling at a “much faster speed” of about 24kmph.
Google explained that the self-driving car was trying to navigate around some sandbags in a wide lane. As it was trying to make its way to the next lane, the bus did not slow down – or stop – to give way to the autonomous car. As a result, the car drove right into the side of the bus.
In response to this incident, Google said that it “clearly bear some responsibility, because if our car hadn’t moved, there wouldn’t have been a collision.” The company will make necessary changes to the self-driving cars’ software to avoid such an accident in the future.
(Source: Reuters)
