A Google self-driving car found to have caused accident
Californians are probably well-aware that Google has been testing its cars on the state’s roadways. The company has previously reported that its cars have been in 17 accidents, but none of those accidents were the fault of the technology. On Feb. 14, however, one of the self-driving cars actually caused an accident because of a glitch in the software.
Google reported that the issue was that the software didn’t account for the fact that large vehicles, such as buses or commercial trucks, may not always yield. In the accident, the Google self-driving car was in the right turn lane getting ready to make a turn. The vehicle sensed sandbags in the road ahead of it and moved back to the center of the lane. An oncoming bus then collided with the car.
Nobody was injured in the low-speed crash. Google reports that its vehicle was traveling at around 2 mph and the bus was only going 15 mph. The company said that its car was at least partly at fault in the accident. Google indicated it will be changing the software in order to prevent such accidents in the future.
Self-driving cars are expected to hit the mass market within a few years. Although the cars have not yet caused injury accidents, people should expect that they will at some point in the future. The laws will likely be updated to reflect liability in the case that an autonomous vehicle is at fault. Some autonomous vehicle manufacturers have previously stated that they would bear responsibility in the event one of their cars causes an accident, and when that happens, injured victims may want to meet with a personal injury attorney to find out what their recovery rights might be.