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Google’s self-driving car caused an accident and it was caught on video

Published Mar 9th, 2016 8:00PM EST
Google Self Driving Car Crash Video
Image: Jason Henry of The New York Times

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Late last month, we read that one of Google’s self-driving cars had gotten into an accident that it was primarily at fault for causing. This actually marked the very first time a Google car had been at fault for a crash, as all the other times human drivers in other cars were to blame for accidents involving the company’s autonomous vehicles. Now The Associated Press has posted the first video that shows this minor fender bender for the first time.

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The video itself is not that exciting since this was a very minor accident:

Now, as AutoBlog reported last month, the Google car crashed into a bus after it misjudged whether an oncoming bus would slow down and allow it to change lanes. Thankfully no one was hurt and given that Google’s self-driving car software is still a work in progress, it’s not surprising that it would fail at some point during the testing process. Until Google’s software is capable of detecting every potential threat or obstacle on the road, we’re likely to see more accidents like this occur.

All the same, the safety record of Google’s cars is still far better than the safety records of human drivers and it’s important to keep accidents like this in perspective.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.