Google self-driving car strikes public bus in California
The Internet search giant Google has filed a police report acknowledging that one of its self-driving vehicles collided with a bus in Mountain View, Calif., according to the website Engadget.
Google has been testing two dozen Lexus SUVs outfitted with sensors and cameras near the tech firm’s Silicon Valley headquarters.
But the Google auto encountered an unexpected problem, according to the report – there were sandbags around a manhole in its path. The obstruction forced the vehicle to weave left, back toward the center of the lane, before it could turn right onto Castro Street.
“Our test driver believed the bus was going to slow or stop to allow us to merge into the traffic, and that there would be sufficient space to do that”, the company said.
Google’s self-driving cars have been in a few minor accidents over the last few years, but in every case so far, the accident was the result of something a human was doing.
A spokeswoman for California’s DMV, which regulates Google’s testing of about two dozen Lexus SUVs in the state, said the agency hoped to speak with Google on Monday about what went wrong.
Google did not immediately comment on the recent crash and there has been no official determination of fault in the crash.
We’ve now reviewed this incident (and thousands of variations on it) in our simulator in detail and made refinements to our software.
With 360-degrees of awareness, the self-driving cars are gaining new insights into unsafe driving behaviors, including drifting between lanes and running red lights – both of which can contribute to accidents. It was posted online Monday.
Google’s prototype two-seater “bubble” cars have buttons to begin and end the drive, but no other controls.
The cars are also expected to be electric, capable of going 100 miles (160km) before needing to be recharging. As self-driving project lead Chris Urmson said today at a transportation event (via Gizmodo), “Having one of them on the road makes that person safer and makes everyone around them safer”.
In December, Google criticized California for proposing regulations that would require autonomous cars to have a steering wheel, throttle and brake pedals when operating on public roads. Google said it has logged more than 2 million miles to date on the road.
He acknowledged that Google’s vehicle did have some responsibility but said it was “not black and white”.