Distracted Driver Rear-Ends Google Self-Driving Car

Google's self-driving cars aren't perfect, but neither are motorists.

Human error is to blame for the latest crash of a self-driving car, according to the tech giant. The vehicle in question rear-ended Google's prototype because of "distracted driving."

"Our self-driving cars are being hit surprisingly often by other drivers who are distracted and not paying attention to the road," Chris Urmson, director of Google's self-driving cars unit, wrote in a blog post. "That's a big motivator for us."

The most recent collision occurred during evening rush hour on July 1, as an autonomous Google vehicle drove toward an intersection in Mountain View, California. Despite having the green light, backed-up traffic forced Google's car to stop ahead of the junction.

"After we'd stopped, a car slammed into the back of us at 17 mph—and it hadn't braked at all," Urmson said.

No passengers in either vehicle were hurt, save for minor whiplash, and Google's vehicle sustained only a few scrapes. The second car, however, was not so lucky: its entire front bumper fell off.

"Although we don't like getting hit, there's a silver lining here," Urmson said. "We all want to know how self-driving cars are measuring up against their human counterparts, but the statistics we need to do this simply aren't ordinarily gathered."

Currently based only on police reports, national crashes-per-miles-driven rates do not include what Urmson said are "millions" of fender benders each year, which account for as many as 55 percent of all crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Of course, more of Google's autonomous vehicles roaming the streets (racking up about 10,000 miles per week) means more potential accidents. Human drivers have hit the self-driving cars 14 times—including 11 rear collisions—since the start of Google's project in 2009.

"And not once has the self-driving car been the cause of the collision," Urmson insisted. "Instead, the clear theme is human error and inattention. We'll take all this as a signal that we're starting to compare favorably with human drivers."

It is becoming harder to vouch for living, breathing motorists, when technology allows for transportation methods that can see 360 degrees in all directions, and never get tired, irritable, or distracted.

It's not always a case of human error, though. Last month, a report said that two self-driving cars—one from Google and another from Delphi—almost got into an accident in California. Both companies, however, argued that it was not a near miss, but simply an example of their technologies performing appropriately.

pcmag.com