Google’s driverless car suffers low impact collision with a bus
Google’s unblemished safety record in the pursuit of driverless vehicles has disappeared after one of its test cars was involved in a crash whilst driving autonomously.
The incident took place whilst engineers were watching a fleet of the hi-tech cars trundle around a sandbag obstacle course on 14 February at 2mph - when one of 24 test cars is believed to have collided with a bus, which was travelling at 15mph.
Google has already admitted partial responsibility for the crash in a report filed with the department of motor vehicles in California, blaming the accident on its software overestimating the likelihood that the bus would give way
In future Google says it will program its cars with a better understanding of the differences in behaviour between large and small vehicles to minimise the chances of a repeat.
It isn’t the first time Google’s driverless cars have been involved in an accident although previously these were predominantly instances in which vehicles were rear-ended.