“Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Monday it bears ‘some responsibility’ after one of its self-driving cars struck a municipal bus in a minor crash earlier this month,” David Shepardson reports for Reuters. “The crash may be the first case of one of its autonomous cars hitting another vehicle and making an error. The Mountain View, California-based Internet search leader and tech firm said it updated its software after the crash to avoid future incidents.”
“In a Feb. 23 report filed with California regulators, Google said the crash took place in Mountain View on Feb. 14 when a self-driving Lexus RX450h sought to get around some sandbags in a wide lane,” Shepardson reports. “Google said in the filing the autonomous vehicle was traveling at less than 2 miles per hour, while the bus was moving at about 15 miles per hour. The vehicle and the test driver ‘believed the bus would slow or allow the Google (autonomous vehicle) to continue,’ it said. But three seconds later, as the Google car in autonomous mode re-entered the center of the lane, it struck the side of the bus, causing damage to the left front fender, front wheel and a driver side sensor.”
“The crash comes as Google has been making the case that it should be able to test vehicles without steering wheels and other controls,” Shepardson reports. “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. A licensed driver would need to be ready to take over if something went wrong.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Shocking.
Hey, what’s a tougher sell, a car without a steering wheel, gas pedal and brakes or glasses that make you look like an asshole?
SEE ALSO:
U.S. tells Google computers can qualify as drivers – February 10, 2016
Why driverless cars will screech to a halt – February 9, 2016
Google’s self-driving cars hit the road this summer – May 15, 2015
Google acknowledges 11 accidents with its self-driving cars – May 11, 2015
Apple vs. Google in self-driving cars: To map or not to map? – March 6, 2015
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]