Google’s Self-Driving Car Was Involved In A Crash. It Was Caused By A Van Jumping The Red Light

Since 2009 when Google when announced the idea of a self-driving cars, the road to an eventual test in California in 2012 was not without challenges. One of those challenges was regulation but bigger than that was public perception of such technology.

Since then though public perception has begun to change with respect to the technology itself. Reports over the weekend though showed that a Google self-driving car was involved in its most serious crash to date.

This happened as a human controlled van tried to beat the red light thereby resulting in a Collison with the Google Lexus car. The good news though is that no one got hurt eventually. In a statement to 9to5 Google, the internet giant said the following;

A Google vehicle was traveling northbound on Phyllis Ave. in Mountain View when a car heading westbound on El Camino Real ran a red light and collided with the right side of our vehicle. Our light was green for at least six seconds before our car entered the intersection. Thousands of crashes happen every day on U.S. roads, and red-light running is the leading cause of urban crashes in the U.S. Human error plays a role in 94% of these crashes, which is why we’re developing fully self-driving technology to make our roads safer.

A witness also said also told the website that from what they saw, the autonomous car wasn’t at fault in anyway. The car has since been taken off the road.

The safety of these cars over the years had been an issues but with successive tests, it is clear that with the right regulations, they could ensure safety on our road. The US President Barack Obama had written an article to this effect last week stating his administration’s interest in working with other stakeholders to come up with rules that can accommodate every road user including self-driving vehicles.

Google is still testing this technology extensively and as British tabloid Telegraph reports, Google Chairman said they have to work till they get it right. He said “We had one with a bus, which is not good enough. We’re trying to get as close to 0 as possible.” 

Back in January, Google revealed that human drivers had to take the wheel 341 times within 14 months in response to hazards and software failures. The intervention was needed to avoid a collision just 13 of those times. In 69 cases the driver took control to prevent dangerous driving, and in 272 a human had to takeover because of “software failures”.

Uber and Volvo, Ford, BMW have all announced separate plans for self-driving cars. Even Uber’s rival Lyft are setting 2021 as they year they see this technology being introduced to their fleet which means they may be in talks with one or more automakers at the moment.