Self-Driving Cars: Four Sans-Driver Cars Have Been Involved In Accidents In The Past 7 Months
Self-driving cars doesn't mean 100 percent accident free. According to recent reports, four of the 48 self-driving vehicles operating on California roads have gotten into minor fender-benders since September.
Allegedly, two of these accidents happened with the vehicles in self-driving mode and the other two because of human errors.
The Verge reported that three of the cars were Lexus SUVs that are part of Google's intensive self-driving tests near the company's Mountain View headquarter. The fourth vehicle is owned by Delphi Automotive.
According to Associated Press, none of them were severe crashes and each occurred at speeds of under 10 mph.
"Lexus SUV fleet has so far been involved in "a handful of minor fender-benders, light damage, no injuries, so far caused by human error and inattention," admitted Google. The search giant operates 23 Lexus vehicles that have been retrofitted with its autonomous driving sensors and other technology. These equip a kill switch that instantly disables the self-driving system.
The accidents are not Google's first: In a briefing with reporters a year ago, the leader of Google's self-driving car program acknowledged three others between when the company first sent cars onto public roads six years ago - without the state's official permission - and May 2014, AP noted.
"For a lot of reasons," said Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina, "more might be expected of these test vehicles and of the companies that are deploying them and the drivers that are supervising them than we might expect of a 17-year-old driver in a 10-year-old car."
