Eleven traffic accidents in 6 years for Google's self-driving cars

Self-driving car technology is the future, there is no doubt about that, but for now this technology is very immature, which is why the most advanced companies are in testing phases, with the danger that entails, all the more so considering that there is no driver to press the brake pedal in the event of a collision. This is what has happened to Google, the technology company based in Silicon Valley, which has already recorded 11 traffic accidents with its self-driving cars.

Google’s project director, Chris Urmson, says that his cars had suffered or caused minor damage and that all the incidents ended without injuries. He also added that eight of the eleven traffic accidents had taken place while driving in the city. To downplay the matter, Google places special emphasis on the fact that these eleven accidents have occurred over the more than 2.7 million kilometers that its vehicles have covered without human intervention during the six years of testing they have been carrying out.

On the other hand, the tech giant has stated that on none of the occasions when its vehicles were involved in a traffic accident was the cause the self-driving car. In the three collisions attributed to it in California, Google says they were due to human error, adding that on one occasion its vehicle was hit by another that had run a stop sign.

For the critics of this type of self-driving vehicle, Google has explained that on several occasions its cars are the ones that have avoided collisions with other vehicles, cyclists or pedestrians thanks to its sensors, cameras and radars. The company maintains that all the technology its vehicles carry makes them safer than if they were under human control, but they cannot anticipate events or control the other users of public roads.

Citizens of the state of California consider a lack of transparency everything related to the accidents and the detailed report drawn up by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, as well as a series of criticisms among enthusiasts and critics of this initiative who believe they are poorly informed about the project that will have them coexisting with self-driving cars from 2020.

Source: Expansión