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In response to reports that their self-driving cars have not been totally free from accidents, Google has created a webpage where it will publish monthly reports detailing all of the accidents that its self-driving cars are involved in.
The first report [PDF] includes summaries of all accidents since the start of the Google X project in 2009:
The report for May showed Google cars had been involved in 12 accidents since it first began testing its self-driving cars in 2009, mostly involving rear-ending. Google said one of its vehicles was rear-ended at a stoplight in California on Thursday, bringing the total count to 13 accidents.
"That could mean that the vehicles tend to stop more quickly than human drivers expect," public interest group Consumer Watchdog said. The group called for more details on the accidents, including statements from witnesses and other drivers.
None of these accidents were caused by a fault with the car, Google said.
Original Submission
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 08 2015, @06:34AM
How do you figure?
In my country, if I rear-end the car in front of me (assuming it did not pull out in front of me) then the responsibility of the accident is mine.
It's quite simple: I was either following too closely, driving too fast (which is the same thing), or I wasn't paying sufficient attention. The driver in front was innocent of all wrongdoing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 08 2015, @09:18AM
Well, if the robot breaks very sharply it might cause an accident. Usually the party doing the rearing however will be liable. This does not stop dozens of cars regularly taking part if destruction derby style clusterfucks that block highways potentially for hours, usually at rush hour.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 08 2015, @04:45PM
>Well, if the robot breaks very sharply it might cause an accident.
If the robot breaks, then it was at fault. The other driver must brake to avoid hitting the broken robot.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by sjames on Monday June 08 2015, @07:00PM
Again, that's following too close. You are supposed to leave enough gap that even if the car in front suddenly brakes at it's maximum deceleration suddenly, you have enough time to react and come to a stop.