Google's robot-controlled cars suffer first crash in 160k miles, and it's a HUMAN's fault

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• Toyota Prius crashed near Google HQ in Mountain View
• Firm said it was caused by a human driver at controls
• Witnesses report five-car pile-up on California road
  

By Mark Duell

Last updated at 10:10 AM on 8th August 2011

Perhaps it just shows that robots can often do a much better job than us.

After Google's robot-controlled cars travelled 160,000 miles without a hitch, it was always going to be a human that caused the first crash.

A Google self-driving prototype Toyota Prius went into another vehicle near the firm's headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Oops: A Google self-driving prototype Toyota Prius has crashed into another vehicle near the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California

But the technology giant said the crash was the fault of a human at the car's controls, with witnesses claiming it caused a five-car pile-up.

Google has been testing out the cars in California and Nevada and this was the first time one has had an accident.

 

The autonomous Prius was in a five-car pile-up bizarrely with two other Prius cars and two Honda Accord vehicles, reported Jalopnik.

Google's car rear-ended another Prius that hit a Honda Accord, which struck another Accord that hit another Prius, witnesses said.

It's not yet proven that a human was driving but experts say the car's sensors, cameras and lasers would have avoided a collision.

Company response: The technology giant said the crash was the fault of a human at the car's controls, with witnesses claiming it caused a five-car pile-up

However the crash could have been caused by a bug in the computer software, which does all the work while humans ride in the car.

'Safety is our top priority. One of our goals is to prevent fender-benders like this one, which occurred while a person was manually driving the car'

Google spokesman

'Safety is our top priority,' a Google spokesman told Business Insider.

'One of our goals is to prevent fender-benders like this one, which occurred while a person was manually driving the car.'

Tiffany Winkelman, whose brother was involved in the pile-up, told NBC Bay Area an ambulance was in traffic behind the accident.

Mountain View Police Department have not yet commented.

Picture courtesy of Jalopnik.

 

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08 Aug, 2011

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Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2023072/Googles-robot-controlled-cars-suffer-crash-160k-miles-HUMANs-fault.html?ITO=1490
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