Since Google began testing its self-driving cars in 2012, autonomous vehicles have been involved in a number of crashes. Most of which have been minor and at low speeds, so neither of them caused significant damage to either the car or the person at the wheel.
But recently, one of Google’s cars was involved in one of the worst autonomous vehicle accidents now, which caused the airbags to be deployed, and caved in both the front and rear side doors.
This accident happened in California last week when a van driver ran a red light and collided with the passenger side door of Google’s modified Lexus SUV. Admiringly, neither driver was injured, but the Google Car had a big dent on it.
In this accident, Google said that the car was self-driving at the time of the accident, and although it automatically hit the brakes after seeing the other car cross the red light, it wasn’t enough to prevent the collision.
This is not the first time a Google self-driving car has been involved in an accident. James Allen, the witness of the crash, said, “I’ve never seen one in an accident and I see at least 30 to 40 a day. They’re very good cars, that’s why I was so shocked.”
A Google spokesperson says, “Thousands of crashes happen every day on US roads, and red-light running is the leading cause of urban crashes in the US. Human error plays a role in 94 per cent of these crashes, which is why we’re developing fully self-driving technology to make our roads safer. Google’s autonomous cars have covered over two million miles to date. But they have also been involved in around 25 accidents, with only one – a collision with a bus – being the fault of the self-driving car.”
