Google’s Self-Driving Vehicle Caught in its First On-Road Accident

Self-driving cars were once just the talk of the future for automobile technology — but it wasn’t long until that dream hit the roads of the real world, from Salt Lake City to the East Coast. After several years and millions of miles test-driving Google’s driverless vehicle, the safety streak has come to an end. There has yet to be an auto accident caused by the self-driving vehicle technology until now, which makes us wonder; will Google’s project survive the crash?

On February 14, 2016, one of Google’s self-driving Lexus SUVs sideswiped a bus in Mountain View, California. The car was only traveling at 2 miles per hour — not exactly a fatal speed — but the real issue a lawyer would question is if it was due to a self-driving technology malfunction.

No one was injured, and the damages were minor. Google released a statement saying, “We clearly bear some responsibility, because if our car hadn’t moved, there wouldn’t have been a collision.”

A test driver was behind the wheel of the car, ready to take over in the event of an accident, while the self-driving vehicle isn’t set to be available to the public in Salt Lake City and elsewhere until the year 2020. 

The test driver explained that he incorrectly believed the bus was going to slow down or stop to let Google’s car merge in front — apparently the self-driving vehicle thought the same.

Google’s cars have been logging up to 15,000 test-driving miles per week — so it was only a matter of time before an auto accident occurred. Lucky for Google, the accident was minor, and the company is willing to admit to a lawyer that it is responsible.

With that said, the thinkers of self-driving cars are still concerned with the biggest universal worry: “The first fatal accident in which a self-driving car is to blame.”

The idea is that self-driving cars will one day replace human-driven cars on roads from Salt Lake City to the East Coast, meaning a lawyer-involved fatal auto accident will eventually occur — which could potentially kill all the efforts that went into the big conversion.

As for Google’s current situation in dealing with its first self-driving auto accident, the company doesn’t have anything to worry about — yet. The day Google is found at fault by a lawyer for a serious fatal accident is the day the world will begin to question the safety of self-driving technology.

The technology is something that was at one time unfathomable, but it has made its way to modern technologies. However, it’s not just the function and safety of the vehicles people in Salt Lake City and elsewhere are questioning, but it’s also the ability to be accepted nation-wide as a human-driver alternative.

Alyssa Koenig is a legal writer for Fusion 360, an SEO and content marketing agency. Information provided by Robert J Debry. Follow on Twitter.